Have You Been (or Are You) Homeschooled?

[Guest Leigh]

you see the question.

i just hope that not only the home-schooled kids open this thread..lol

i (much to my shame...) was home-schooled until i was in high school...but that's something you'd have to PM me if you want to discuss further...unless this thread gets really interesting.

peace&love

Leigh

[Guest Leigh]

lol..wow. i go in the last choice...see, i don't think of them all.

[Sally]

I went through the public school system - at that time more like corectional facilities - no open campuses and hall passes reguired for going to the restroom - boys and girls seperated almost anytime you left the classroom - lunch in the cafeteria (no matter how nice it was outside) and herded from one room to another until junior high when you were given five minutes to get from one end of the school to the other with your locker conviently located in the other wing.

Then on to a Private Christian college and the only subject that wasn't covered in the core curriculum was Christianity - go figure.

No home schooling her except for being taught to read at the age of three.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Neuro]

My whole life I have been homeschooled, and never went to public school ever. Now collage is coming, and I do not know how to act in one... aheh heh.

Less 'homeschooled' and more 'Kept at home without schooling' so... I can only learn from TV and internet at my age now aheh.

[Sally]

lol..wow. i go in the last choice...see, i don't think of them all.

You should have known that it would be me!

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Pól_Eire]

national school through 4th class, then boarding schools for senior primary and secondary. ...definitely not homeschooled, lol.

Pól

[Guest Leigh]

My whole life I have been homeschooled, and never went to public school ever. Now collage is coming, and I do not know how to act in one... aheh heh.

Less 'homeschooled' and more 'Kept at home without schooling' so... I can only learn from TV and internet at my age now aheh.

yeah, actually, you inspired me to start this thread, cuz i kept wanting to talk to you about it...but then i figured, why not just make a whole thread.

i have to say, going into it at the college age probably won't be as bad as going into high school.

people are a lot more sure of themselves...well, mostly... in college, and there are more ppl, and more groups to fit into.

plus, nothing is as big a deal to college students..lol..

so you'll be fine, just be you (as best you can). people will like you.

peace&love

Leigh

[Guest Neuro]

That is a good idea, I think there must be many transgender people here who are homeschooled!

Collage students seem more layed back, but as for the actual learning--I can barely add on my fingers XD

But, I knew people who are homeschooled and genuises. People who can SPELL genius without a spellcheck--and such. Not all are Dodo's like moi.

[Guest Eth]

Less 'homeschooled' and more 'Kept at home without schooling' so... I can only learn from TV and internet at my age now aheh.

Diddo to that.

[Guest Leigh]

Diddo to that.

that's how my best friends family was....

my mom did a little...well...we read.

lol...i guess you're right. but we didn't have tv or a computer back then, so i just spent a lot of time reading and playing outside...lol...

peace&love

Leigh

[Guest Javey]

Been homeschooled all my life

[Guest Cody_T]

I wanted to be homeschooled my whole life

Don't even get me started on the failures of the american school system

I am smart. And I have been made functionally stupid.

No joke.

My kids are being rigorously homeschooled, even if I have to shell out thousands of bucks for tutors. I'm not subjecting them to that same crap.

Also I wanted to be homeschooled cause I didn't fit in, but the major wasting of my life that was most classes, considering the speed at which I pick up on concepts was a large part of me not wanting to waste my life which I now have wasted when I could be in college already or maybe done.

As a kid, I liked to learn. Now, I don't have such lofty goals. I learned from my first grade experience (ironically, a grade my school talked my mom out of letting me skip) that school is pointless. This is when we were taught to count on our fingers, except using paper and pencil. I don't think that counting on your fingers is any more acceptable just because you utilize paper and pencil. Plus, since I was still an okay student (this is when I began reading novels under my desk and going ahead in subjects, but I still wanted to do what the teacher said), I actually learned that crap and I didn't regain my math skills until two years ago and I'm really peed about that.

Oh and geography my freshman year still makes me feel brain cells dying every time I think about it. I literally get a sort of brain death headache at the thought. Despite lofty goals of reading say, a page out of the textbook in an hour of class... this was never accomplished, due to the teacher's absolute inability to control the class. And the only thing I learned from that class was the current PCGDP in the US and Canada, which changes all the time anyway. The hour and a half final took me about 15 minutes because it was just about a hundred vocab terms, like stupid stuff like river delta. And you're not allowed to leave finals early. And the cat didn't want to sit and be petted. (yes, there was a cat in the room, idk how they got away with that either).

Umm, I'm not at all bitter about the utter wasting of the last twelve years of my life. At all.

So, let's make the thread interesting? What happened w/your schooling, Leigh?

[Guest Leigh]

I wanted to be homeschooled my whole life

Don't even get me started on the failures of the american school system

I am smart. And I have been made functionally stupid.

No joke.

My kids are being rigorously homeschooled, even if I have to shell out thousands of bucks for tutors. I'm not subjecting them to that same crap.

Also I wanted to be homeschooled cause I didn't fit in, but the major wasting of my life that was most classes, considering the speed at which I pick up on concepts was a large part of me not wanting to waste my life which I now have wasted when I could be in college already or maybe done.

As a kid, I liked to learn. Now, I don't have such lofty goals. I learned from my first grade experience (ironically, a grade my school talked my mom out of letting me skip) that school is pointless. This is when we were taught to count on our fingers, except using paper and pencil. I don't think that counting on your fingers is any more acceptable just because you utilize paper and pencil. Plus, since I was still an okay student (this is when I began reading novels under my desk and going ahead in subjects, but I still wanted to do what the teacher said), I actually learned that crap and I didn't regain my math skills until two years ago and I'm really peed about that.

Oh and geography my freshman year still makes me feel brain cells dying every time I think about it. I literally get a sort of brain death headache at the thought. Despite lofty goals of reading say, a page out of the textbook in an hour of class... this was never accomplished, due to the teacher's absolute inability to control the class. And the only thing I learned from that class was the current PCGDP in the US and Canada, which changes all the time anyway. The hour and a half final took me about 15 minutes because it was just about a hundred vocab terms, like stupid stuff like river delta. And you're not allowed to leave finals early. And the cat didn't want to sit and be petted. (yes, there was a cat in the room, idk how they got away with that either).

Umm, I'm not at all bitter about the utter wasting of the last twelve years of my life. At all.

So, let's make the thread interesting? What happened w/your schooling, Leigh?

oh gee. you asked for it to get interesting...i'm afraid it will.

i have to admit that i staunchly disapprove of home-schooling.

you are right about the american school system however. i actually lost vocabulary and a lot of creativity when i went to high school, i have since gained most of it back...but for four years, i was just a nervous wreak.

so, back to the beginning. why do i disapprove of home-schooling?

Cody, you say you wanted to be home-schooled because you weren't challenged in public school. but do you think your mother would have been able to give you a challenging course load? i know mine wasn't, and nor were the mothers of my friends (i grew up in a community of home-schoolers).

also, i know that social interaction in school can range from awkward to painful (and good...for the rare person), but being isolated from your peers sets you up for this later in life. obviously there are situations (such as being trans) that can make life worse in a public school system, but in some ways i think that it just makes us more sure of of trans-status.

but being isolated from your peers is never a good thing. so many kids have enough difficulty figuring out who they are and what their beliefs are, but if you are only around your parents, of course your beliefs will mirror theirs.

being with your peers allows you to be exposed to alternate views (not to mention at least a few friends, unless you're in a really crappy place with no decent people). and it allows you to stay in touch with the background, culture (it is ever changing, after all) of the society you will (most likely) be a part of for the rest of your life.

in my personal experience i did have rare interaction with kids my age (as i said there was a home-schooling community) but we only met once a week for a co-op where we had singing lessons, and history lessons, etc...

in my case (which is very common in home-schooling) i was taught at home because my parents church had taught them that the public schools were evil, etc... now, i have grown to the point that i am no longer bitter toward religious people, but i can tell you that this particular bunch of "Christians" were not very Christian at all.

i knew literally 6 kids my age, 1 guy, 5 girls, and i had to be friends with the girls...i won't go into all the details. and from a young age my sister, my best friend (one of said 5 girls) and i were treated as outcasts not so much by our peers but by their MOTHERS. because i was too "rowdy" or something ridiculous. my best friend's family had always been a bit different from the "typical" home-schoolers, and my sister was my sister so must be just like me.

but i digress. i believe i have outlined the rational educational reasons that i don't think people should home-school.

let me know if you have any questions.

peace&love

Leigh

[Guest Cody_T]

oh gee. you asked for it to get interesting...i'm afraid it will.

i have to admit that i staunchly disapprove of home-schooling.

you are right about the american school system however. i actually lost vocabulary and a lot of creativity when i went to high school, i have since gained most of it back...but for four years, i was just a nervous wreak.

so, back to the beginning. why do i disapprove of home-schooling?

Cody, you say you wanted to be home-schooled because you weren't challenged in public school. but do you think your mother would have been able to give you a challenging course load? i know mine wasn't, and nor were the mothers of my friends (i grew up in a community of home-schoolers).

also, i know that social interaction in school can range from awkward to painful (and good...for the rare person), but being isolated from your peers sets you up for this later in life. obviously there are situations (such as being trans) that can make life worse in a public school system, but in some ways i think that it just makes us more sure of of trans-status.

but being isolated from your peers is never a good thing. so many kids have enough difficulty figuring out who they are and what their beliefs are, but if you are only around your parents, of course your beliefs will mirror theirs.

being with your peers allows you to be exposed to alternate views (not to mention at least a few friends, unless you're in a really crappy place with no decent people). and it allows you to stay in touch with the background, culture (it is ever changing, after all) of the society you will (most likely) be a part of for the rest of your life.

in my personal experience i did have rare interaction with kids my age (as i said there was a home-schooling community) but we only met once a week for a co-op where we had singing lessons, and history lessons, etc...

in my case (which is very common in home-schooling) i was taught at home because my parents church had taught them that the public schools were evil, etc... now, i have grown to the point that i am no longer bitter toward religious people, but i can tell you that this particular bunch of "Christians" were not very Christian at all.

i knew literally 6 kids my age, 1 guy, 5 girls, and i had to be friends with the girls...i won't go into all the details. and from a young age my sister, my best friend (one of said 5 girls) and i were treated as outcasts not so much by our peers but by their MOTHERS. because i was too "rowdy" or something ridiculous. my best friend's family had always been a bit different from the "typical" home-schoolers, and my sister was my sister so must be just like me.

but i digress. i believe i have outlined the rational educational reasons that i don't think people should home-school.

let me know if you have any questions.

peace&love

Leigh

I believe it would have worked in my particular case, and hopefully for my kids (only until the end of elementary school, things get better from there), although I agree that it’s flawed as well. Education, in general, is flawed and it really saddens me. But anyway… as for interaction, I had a lot of kids my age in my neighborhood. I had like, one ish friend at school and a ton at home and at sports. It’s just important to be involved in extracurriculars if you’re homeschooled. Alternate views is a very good point, but I think again, with sports/clubs/whatever, and especially in the case of only doing elementary school it could be covered. And as for culture… my mom didn’t let us wear jeans to school since she thought it was too casual . So yeah, this is why I’d be okay with it, distinctly for me and my kids. As a general situation, you really can’t trust individual families to uphold even the standards of a public school. I would have issues even entrusting my kids’ education to another person (say, private tutor, amazing teacher, maybe even my husband), because I’d be terrified they’d do a bad job, but I know most people don’t have this problem.

Your personal experience… I’m very sorry. Whenever a church tries to meddle in things that are not intrinsically a part of their mission, the results are not usually good. And sadly, “Christians” are much more prevalent than Christians. It disgusts me that their parents would do that, but I know exactly what that’s like… you said you’re adhd in another thread; my brother was supposed to be. He actually has some more unusual things going on but the point is, he was really ostracized by parents when he was young as well. Since I was really close in age and we spent a lot of time together I was privy to it. It disgusts me that adults will be so cruel to children based on something like that, to the point of socially rejecting them and passing on that negative idea to their children as well. It made me feel like there was something wrong with us and there wasn’t. Luckily though, these were the parents of the kids we didn’t like anyway .

So, although I was applying them to myself up top to qualify, I definitely agree with your views on homeschooling. If I had the time, between everything else, I’d personally overhaul the public schooling system, make homeschooling subject to intense regulation, and mandate socialization for homeschooled kids. But as I can’t… the system will continue to wither and die. I’m just glad I won’t be there for the implosion.

I'm getting a little fatalistic, don't you think?

[Guest Eth]

I'm getting a little fatalistic, don't you think?

Nah. 'Fantastic' would have been my idea where we map out the human brain and determine what causes memories to contain certain information and then just have school 'downloaded' into all our youth and solve the problem and save time.

-puts on labcoat and pokes some random kid's brain- -people back away slowly- What!? It's not like he was using it for anything anyway!

[Petra Jane]

-puts on labcoat and pokes some random kid's brain- -people back away slowly- What!? It's not like he was using it for anything anyway!

Now, THAT, tickles my funny bone!

[Guest CharlieRose]

I'm sort of like Cody, I was gifted at a young age, and was mostly bored in school. I dunno that homeschooling would have been a good idea for me though. I was different, and shy, and so if I could have been homeschooled I would have wanted to be, but I think it probably would have just made my shyness worse, and it would have made me more lazy than I already am. Busywork is a part of life, there are just some things you have to learn to make yourself do even if it's pointless. I still had lots of opportunity to learn everything I wanted to, and still do.

[Sally]

In actual fact I was home schooled and wasted 12 years in the public schools before going to college.

My mother and English teacher before she married and then devoted her time to raising the two children - that was the way it worked in the dark ages - one income was enough and one - almost always the mother - stayed home and actually spent all day with the children!

My sister wanted to learn to read, she is two and a half years older than me, so when she found out that they weren't going to teach her to read in Kindergarten she came home and announced that she wanted to learn - so my mother taught her and being only three I sat there and watched and learned.

Before I was four I was reading the collection of Sherlock Holmes that was in my bedroom - the former den - so before I went to school I could read and understood deductive reasoning and already had all of the tools I needed to daydream through the Public School System.

Under Achiever was my official title - my mother was asked on many occasions why her son (I never mentioned it in those days) tested as a genius but ranked received grades in the average range - that's what you get when you are bored and daydreaming.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Sophie H]

I went to School, and it was the best and worst days of my life. It was bad because I didnt fit in and was bullied alot, but i did enjoy the innocence of it all, not having to worry about bills and all the stuff We all have to worry about now, apart from the bullying it was a pretty carefree life.

[Guest Nikk]

Rawr. I'm currently in a high school that's basically the exact opposite of homeschooling. My class alone has more than four hundred kids.

When I was little and before I switched to a big school, I really wanted to be home schooled. I was not challenged enough at the school I was at and I spent most of my time being lazy and reading and watching TV. Then before high school I switched to the big school. At first it was really hard to find a niche as a non-athlete and non-super academic in a super athletic/academic school, but as time went on I gained some cool friends and I'm actually being challenged more now in school because the school is so big that they're equipped to handle everyone. I know that going to big schools aren't so cool for everyone, especially transfolk. I don't know what I'm going to do when I decide to come out.... But it could possibly be disastrous just because of the sheer number of people who see and interact with me on a day to day life. And I'm sorry, I started to ramble..... *poofs away*

[Guest LightNebula]

but being isolated from your peers is never a good thing. so many kids have enough difficulty figuring out who they are and what their beliefs are, but if you are only around your parents, of course your beliefs will mirror theirs.

being with your peers allows you to be exposed to alternate views (not to mention at least a few friends, unless you're in a really crappy place with no decent people). and it allows you to stay in touch with the background, culture (it is ever changing, after all) of the society you will (most likely) be a part of for the rest of your life.

I disagree totally about the "being isolated from your peers is never a good thing" , at least in some cases. There are situations, although rare, where people would be better off without being around their peers for various reasons. There are also other ways to be exposed to alternative views besides from parents and your peers.