Topic : 11/24 Great School Debate

To answer this question, most homeschoolers have no problems entering college. They take the placement testing and SAT just like anyone else. They have transcripts that the homeschool educator prepares from the records that are kept. Many homeschool children are finding it easier to enter college early as a dual enrolled student. My 15 yr old is in college already as a dual enrolled student and all of his classes are taken at the college now.  By the time he finishes homeschool High School he will have more than a couple of years of college completed.  As for testing,  I pay for annual testing myself for our children. It averages about  $300 per year for an accredited state teacher to come to our house and administer the Stanford Acheivement Test. I could have the children take the state test for free but I feel it isn't as comprehensive a test as the SAT, which is a national test and has a reputation for being a better measure of ability.

I have to disagree with your last paragraph about homeschooling.  It is obviously a thought from someone who does not homeschool.  I have 3 children ages 13, 5 and 3.  My oldest attended a parochial school  for elementary education and is now in a public middle school.  We have absolutely no issues with him and his schooling.  We have decided to homeschool our 2 younger children, however.  We never considered it with our oldest but now that we have spent a year researching homeschooling we have decided to do it for our last 2.  We have no complaints about our oldest's education but feel that if we can provide an even better education for our other 2 why not do it?  We are in our first year and absolutely love it!

You said homeschooling does not teach responsibilty.  I beg to differ.  Because I  have more time with my kids, I do much more with the younger 2 to teach them responsibility.  They have more responsibility at home than the other one did.  And my day and theirs is extremely structured although they do have more play time than a child attending a school.  I spend time every weekend writing my lesson plans for the week.  Homeschooling is not just  a hit or miss kind of thing.  Yes, there may be some who do unschooling and do not structure so much but for the most part homeschoolers I know do structure their day.  They have ways of incorporating their daily routines into schooling and work on a schedule.  My daughter is learning so much more already than she would in school.  I know this because I have a child in school.  I researched the social aspect of it and I found studies that suggest that homeschooled kids are more socialized than schooled kids because homeschooled children are not isolated with only children their own age.  They are socialized with children and adults of all ages.  Also, homeschooled kids are not isolated in their houses.  We have a group of 64 families in our homeschool group and we have co-ops together with classroom situations(latin, art, research, anatomy, etc) weekly, club days monthly, field trips, parent support groups, yearbook staff, etc.....  We attend conventions and informative meetings which help us choose our curriculum.  Again, it is not a hit or miss type of thing for most.

In summary, many homeschoolers are not against public schools but have chosen homeschooling because it seems to fit their families best.  You will not hear most of us put down schools.  We do not generally think people who choose schools are wrong.  They are  just choosing, like us, what is best for their families.  Likewise, we would like others who choose schools to not look down on us and accept that what is best for one is not necessarily best for another.  Most homeschoolers belong to support groups like mine and their kids are very socialized.  Our days are structured and very productive.  Dr. Phil did not represent homeschoolers completeyl.  His guests only represented a small portion of homeschoolers.  It is a shame, but I have learned not to volunteer the fact that I homeschool because I get tired of hearing from those who know nothing about it telling me what I should be careful about.  Choosing to homeschool for most is a well thought out decision based on gathering lots of information and making educated choices.

While watching the Dr. Phil segment on education last night I was disappointed that there were no statistics given about homeschooling vs. traditional education.  Statistics have shown that homeschooled students are more likely to go to college and graduate from that college than public schooled students.  Studies have also shown that homeschoolers typically score quite a bit higher on the SAT and are more likely to become actively involved in their community than students who are in a public educated setting as well as a private institution.  While I agree that homeschooling is not for everyone and I do not agree with unschooling, I do feel that homeschooling has been the best solution for educating my children.

I am the very proud mom of a 13 year old young man who did go to a traditional school through the 3rd grade- we are now in our 5th year homeschooling him and do not plan to send him back to "school" unless he decides that is what he wants to do.  He was struggling in math, so I decided to bring him home for the 4th grade to attempt to find out just what he was having difficulty with and then I planned to put him back in school for the 5th grade.  He not only caught up to where he was expected to be, but at the end of our first year of homeschooling he tested 2 grade levels ahead.  Why? I think it is  because during that year my son got one- on-one attention from me and until he understood  the concept we were studying we did not move on to anything else.   Needless to say, he did not go back to traditional school for the 5th grade.

He is now in the 8th grade and outlining his plans for the future.  He plans to go to college for marine biology and has already begun doing research to see who has the best program and has contacted them to ask what subjects he needs to concetrate on to make sure he is prepared for college classes.  He is given the option each year to go back to school and every year is the same- he chooses to stay home.  Between now a graduation he may change his career goal and he may choose to go back to traditional education, but we are so proud of the fact that he has a goal in mind for his future and my husband and I encourage him and support him in whatever he chooses to do.

My daughter, who chose to go to a private school this year, is so far ahead of her classmates  that the teacher has had to give her extra work just to pose a challenge for her.  I'm not saying that I'm smarter than anyone else, but I do feel that the personal attention my daughter got from me while she homeschooled really made a difference in her academic achievement.

I am personally tired of defending my right to educate my children the way my husband and I see as the best solution for us.  I do not belittle someone for sending their child to public school and would appreciate the same consideration.  My son is very well socialized with other children his own age, most of them public schooled children, and shows absolutely no sign of feeling "left out" by being homeschooled.  He is proud of the fact that he is homeschooled and I am proud to be such a big part of his education!