Homeschooling is a popular alternative to traditional education for parents who want more control over their children’s education. However, it has been debated for many years, with some people looking down on homeschooling parents and students. After a mother asked an online parenting forum for honest reasons, these are what people confessed.
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1. Limited Socialization Opportunities
According to several thread contributors, homeschooled children may not have as many opportunities to socialize with their peers. For example, a parent stressed the importance of socialization and pointed out that it’s much more challenging to make friends if children aren’t around other kids during the day.
A second suggested that socializing is essential to a child’s learning and development and that homeschooling may not be the right environment to foster those traits.
2. Lack of Diversity
Limited exposure to diversity is another reason people look down on homeschooling. Homeschooling parents may not have the resources or the inclination to expose their children to people from different backgrounds and cultures.
An individual sarcastically commented that homeschooling is excellent for parents who want their children to grow up in a bubble without real-world experience.
3. Poor Quality of Education
The quality of education that homeschooled children receive garnered concern. For example, somebody revealed that many homeschooled children they have met “severely lack” basic science and math skills.
Another noted that homeschooling parents might not have the expertise or resources to teach specific subjects effectively.
4. Lack of Accountability
Homeschooling is often subject to less oversight than traditional schooling. As a result, concerned parents expressed that homeschooling parents may not be held accountable for the quality of education their children receive. One such person asked, who ensures the kids learn what they need to know?
5. Sheltered Upbringing
Homeschooled children may not be exposed to certain aspects of the world that traditional schooling provides. Several worried that this sheltered upbringing could limit a child’s perspective and leave them unprepared for the real world. One even suggested that homeschooling can create sheltered, naive, and socially awkward individuals.
6. Religious Indoctrination
Often, homeschooling parents choose to teach their children from a religious perspective. While this is a personal choice, several users expressed concern that it can lead to religious indoctrination.
Many in the thread implied that homeschooling could be used to indoctrinate children with religious beliefs that may not be based in reality.
7. Lack of Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities are essential to education, but homeschooling may not provide the same opportunities as traditional schooling. Many people worry that homeschooled children might miss important activities like sports teams, music programs, and drama clubs.
8. Lack of Critical Thinking Skills
Have you met someone who lacked critical thinking skills? One believed homeschooling might be great for rote memorization but will not necessarily teach children to think critically. Others agreed, stating that critical thinking is essential for success in many areas of life.
9. Overprotective Parenting
Do you think that homeschooling may be a sign of overprotective parenting? Many do. One alleged that homeschooling is often done by parents who intend to shelter their children from the world as a means of control. Another added that sheltering could limit a child’s ability to grow and develop independently.
10 Lack of Preparedness For the Real World
Finally, several thread contributors suggested that homeschooled children may be unprepared for the real world. They believe that homeschooled children can struggle to adapt to the demands of college or the workplace.
Others chimed in, stating that traditional schooling provides children with the skills and experiences they need to be successful in the real world.
What you have here is an opinion of people who have no actual experience with homeschooling. Rather, if this even ever actually happened, it’s just a lot of opinions about something the opiners know zero. Worthless drivel. Public Schools are the number one danger to children in America, period.
Typical religious person writing. No points addressed in the article. What *qualifications* does a parent have to teach? Purely random. What qualifications does a parent have to be a parent–we all know the answer: Successful Completion of the Sexual Act–not a very high standard, and comically, even THAT subject is problematic for parents to teach.
This story is one-sided and filled with myths. I homeschooled my kids. One is a mechanical engineer and the other is an English teacher. who graduated Magna Cum Laude. They were multi-sport athletes in high school. They took lessons and classes, went on field trips, and joined clubs. They had friends in the neighborhood. We were t all homesteading on the prairie. Stereotype much?
This is the most ridiculously inaccurate article I’ve ever read. I homeschool my children, and they are constantly socialized through the five homeschool co-ops they belong to. They experience more diversity in these co-ops than they would if they attended our local public school. I teach math at a university, and my nine-year old girls regularly come into my class and challenge my college students at chess. (Not one student has ever beaten them). We go to chess tournaments around the country. They belong to many extra-curricular sports teams. They are over a year ahead in every subject of where their public-schooled peers are. This article is pure, uneducated drivel. If you actually spoke to any of the thousands of the well-rounded, educated homeschooling parents in our country, you might get some accurate insight. Until then, stop writing about topics you clearly know nothing about.
This article is filled with shockingly incorrect information. Having been part of the homeschool community for 2 decades, I can say that the people who expressed these concerns are severely lacking in knowledge and experience of the homeschooling world . To begin, homeschooling is the true “traditional” education system rooted in mentoring, private tutoring and apprenticeship.
I would like to respond to the points listed–
(1) (5) (9) socialization/sheltering/over protectiveness: One must consider what true socialization is. Webster defines it as “to be social” “to fit or train for a social environment.” Homeschooled students are exposed to all sorts of different people…parents, siblings, grandparents, grocery store clerks, groups through extra-curricular activities etc. They truly are living in the real world on a daily basis–without the constraints of the artificial world of institutionalized school. Parents who choose homeschooling do so out of love for their children and the desire to give them a quality education. Sheltering is in no way the same as isolation (which was forced onto virtually every public/private school student during the covid lockdowns…some of you parents even put your sick child into solitary confinement for days during covid–which is tragic!) True sheltering is providing a place of safety, love and security. And this is what homeschool parents do.
(2) Lack of diversity: Homeschoolers are from all sorts of backgrounds–social, economic, religious etc. What children see in their public/private classroom is a sampling of their neighborhood (which is actually a bubble in itself). If you live in a wealthy neighborhood, you aren’t going to see a diversity of poor kids bussed in from a depressed neighborhood far away. So homeschoolers are exposed to those same children throughout their neighborhood. And when they gather with other homeschooled kids, they are seeing a diversity of families because they are going beyond their neighborhood.
(3) Poor quality of education: Homeschoolers have incredible access to resources. There is an abundance of curriculum available, homeschool conferences, helps for mom and dad and the internet. I don’t think the average (public/private-school parent/teacher) person is aware of the plethora of resources available. Evenso, it has been said that you could homeschool your child for free by simply using library books. When a child learns to read, the whole world opens up to them and they can learn virtually anything through reading books, magazines, newspapers, internet etc.
(4) Lack of Accountability: HS parents want their children to learn, of course, and they are front and center to what their children know. While most states have some level of homeschool regulation for testing, parents can opt for a private assessment of their child’s knowledge and skills. Truth be told, though, these tests and assessments only confirm what a parent already knows. I don’t think there is a homeschool parent around that has been surprised by their child’s testing results. We know what they know, and we know their strengths and weaknesses so we can tailor their education to their bend. Unlike the public/private school system which must move at a strict pace with their 35+ student classroom which results in some students being behind and some ahead (thereby losing students from both ends), homeschooling is a personalized, custom-made education that ensures mastery. Public/private education spends a lot of time teaching to the test, rather than ensuring students have a firm grasp of material and concepts.
(6) Religious Indoctrination: Every school system/family instills a belief system, whether they admit it or not. There are homeschoolers of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and Hindu beliefs, amongst others. And, yes, it is a personal choice as the article mentions. Parents not only have the right and duty to pass on their beliefs to their children–just like the public/private school system passes on their beliefs. As a Christian, I know that many homeschool parents strive to pass on a Biblical worldview to their children—one that is loving, wise, full of hope and servant-minded. Every single person is viewing the world through a specific worldview–whether it is based on a faith or something else. Everyone is practicing a religion in some way.
(7) Lack of extra-curricular activities: Homeschoolers have an abundance of activities available to them outside of their academic studies. Whether it be music lessons, horseback riding, church choir, visiting the elderly in retirement homes, debate club, ice skating/hockey, baseball, soccer etc. Whew! There is so much to choose from! And if they desire, they are permitted to participate in activities through their local school district.
(8) Lack of critical thinking skills: Homeschoolers are taught to think critically every day! They are constantly solving real-world problems in real-world situations. Homeschool parents can easily spend one-to-one time with their child to get behind their thinking process and ask probing questions. I’m dumbfounded that it’s included on this list.
(10) Lack of preparedness for the real world: Any concerns about homeschool children being unable to function in the “real world” or meet the demands of college are completely unfounded. HS students tend to flourish in college as they are often self-motivated, disciplined and have a desire to learn. By the time they are doing high school level work, they are taking charge of more of their education and setting themselves up for success in college or the workplace. They are accustomed to dealing with all kinds of situations and challenges in the real world throughout their years of home-based education and they take those experiences out into college or the workplace.
Homeschooling is an incredible way to educate children as well as a beautiful way to live as a family. Children are unique and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Some may struggle with certain concepts–whether they are homeschooled, private schooled or public schooled. Some may have special needs and reaching their full potential will look different than others. Homeschooling has an amazing way of coming alongside each child and building them up to successfully use their gifts and talents in the world.