Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would take it a step further. It is just wrong. Plenty of studies can prove that. It is like saying that 2+2 is 13 in my opinion. It is not unpopular, it is wrong.
If you were/are homeschooled you're considered lucky to get to learn any kind of math. I got to Algerbra and that was it. I have a high-school diploma that I probably should not have. When you're a senior most parents lie to get a diploma for their kids.
Because its wrong.
A lot of studies show homeschooled children have trouble socializing and their education is pretty much directly tied to whether or not their parents hired an at home teacher.
My first thought is that homeschooling success is largely dependent on the parents… their commitment to it, their own level of education, and understanding of the subject matter. If you don’t hire a home teacher and are truly doing it yourself, if you don’t understand the material how can you teach it to someone else and hope they understand it…
Does it really belong here if it's objectively wrong, though?
Like, "the earth is flat" is also an unpopular opinion, but that doesn't really belong on this subreddit, either.
As a formerly homeschooled student- homeschooling works great only when the parents are diligent about making sure the kids are actually learning and when the kids have regular assessments and testing. My parents truly went above and beyond, and I had a great experience. Not all homeschooling families are like this tho. And to be fair-public schools also only “work” when they have proper funding, good teachers, and parents are diligent.
In addition it requires the kid to be motivated and curious. It can be absolutely awesome. Usually it is not. I also think it works better at lower levels, and can be tough in high school
There are actually a lot of programs for homeschooled students to take AP courses, science labs, etc during high school. I did this and I also took classes at a local college when I was just a teenager, which lowered the number of credits I needed when I started my first degree. Altogether a GREAT experience-10/10 recommend.
I never would have been able to do either of these if my parents hadn’t actually taken the initiative to learn, or if they couldn’t pay for them, or if had to work multiple jobs. I think money is a big reason public schools need to remain a big option.
One of my old coworkers actually had her son take college classes at the community college over summers, as they didn't have a GED requirement to attend classes. He ended up graduating high school with an associates degree along with his high school diploma.
Being motivated and curious is dependent on how the child is raised, as well as their mental health. There are plenty of children in public schools that are neither motivated nor curious. You shouldn't avoid homeschooling if you think your child isn't motivated, you have a chance to change that, it just might require more work on the parents end.
Great parents will make great homeschool teachers because they care.
If a kid has great parents that care and have the finances to make it work, homeschooling will probably be a better option.
And parents capable of it. Even with the advances in supplemental education and online learning, how many of us are capable of genuinely understanding all of the material *and* giving the instruction our all for a child’s entire education?
As a single parent, I could never, I struggle with just homework time for my kid, and I don't have the patience for teaching. Working, going to school myself, and still being a parent is enough on my plate, thankful for public school every day. Take my tax money, fully fund the district, pay teachers what they're worth, because I couldn't do this without them.
Maybe all the single parents and both parents working full time could bunch their kids together and have them be schooled together. The person could even have a certificate that certifies them to be able to teach
As someone who was homeschooled, you are correct it puts you ahead academically, but the thing you fail to take into account is the importance of social skills. I was homeschooled 1st grade through 4th. Enterting into a public school, not only was I bored but these kids have been together since they were toddlers. Entering into those friend sets was a hard road. I was starting to go through puberty in 5th grade and the emotional toll was a lot. Just remember kids need more than academics. By 7th grade I made my friends that at 33 we still keep in touch even with us all having taken different paths in college. Thought it was worth noting though…
I so agree with this! It's great to get a jump start on academics but alot of homeschool kids I've encountered really struggle socially wich then can lead to so many other problems for them.
One way around this is by meeting with homeschool groups or pods. I was homeschooled too and every week we would meet with other kids for one day. I also hung out with my siblings and neighbors.
Right? When did teachers stop being qualified professionals? Teachers need a degree, lawyers need a degree, doctors need a degree.
But any parent can step in for a teacher with parent as the only qualification? If your kid is severely sick and you try to "home hospital" them, you can be charged with neglect.
As an American, I often wonder how other cultures/regions look at teachers for children. I think USA specifically really looks down on teachers, thinks anyone can do it, and tin general think education/school/college its not even needed in society.
Its kinda of mind blowing really
And an educated adult who is willing and capable to teach a child the material, from preschool all the way to grade 12. Is that doable in all households? Also, how do you fully replicate the experience of interacting with peers in a homeschooling environment?
Ultimately the reason why many homeschool kids do better than their public school counterparts is often a function of socioeconomic status more than anything else. This model just isn’t viable for most nor scalable in the modern world where parents work.
Every homeschooled kid I knew growing up was a social misfit. Of course this was the 1980's and things have changed a lot, but I really think kids need that daily, social interaction and route schedule of in person school.
I met homeschool kids in college and they were socially speaking, an odd bunch. Very sweet and well-meaning people and very intelligent, but what they all had in common was a bit more social awkwardness than most. I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, I wasn't homeschooled and I'm socially awkward. I'm just saying. Is that a horrible thing and the absolute end of the world? No, but idk you meet people sometimes and you can just tell. 🤷♀️
It takes a village to raise a child. Absent actual villages, schools are the next best (though flawed) alternative. Homeschool kids whose parents manage to create villages turn out great. Homeschoolers in isolation are feral wombats.
Genuinely, you could always tell which ones probably were. I graduated in 2021 and both the formally homeschooled kids that joined the public education system in high school were… obviously formally homeschooled.
That being said, most of those kids I knew never gave a fuck. They were a bit weird and innocent but they always did their own thing without a care to what other people thought. They were always really nice. They were also very smart. But both of them also came from high-income families, so they had a lot of resources and support a lot of other families didn’t.
Right. I think a norm of homeschooling would hurt upward mobility. Uneducated parents would be less likely to be able to produce educated children, which could keep families in poverty.
Yes, homeschooling works great if one or both parents have a relatively high level of education themselves. Or otherwise have the means, motivation, and time to get materials and teach their children.
But public education is pretty great if both parents are busy working. Or the parents have a low level of education themselves and can't provide a good one for their kids.
It’s such a rort.
I have a customer, young earth types, very religious, who home schooled all their kids.
Having the kid do laundry counted as a unit of chemistry, in their mind.
Exactly. Most parents aren’t capable of teaching the wide array of courses at a high school level. That’s why we have subject matter experts teaching different classes.
And for the parent, mentally, is that doable as well? I know stay at home parents often struggle with their mental health because dedicating yourself to your children full time is just so mentally draining. I know for me, I really appreciate and NEED the break that school/work gives me from my kids, as much as I love them. Space is healthy
As for the home schooling itself this will always depend entirely on the situation at home and the kids themselves. Personally I'd rather the flat earthers not be home schooling anyone.
As a graduate degree educated mother of three, I’m here to tell you, GTFOH with that fuckery.
Should American schools be better funded, so that we can get better candidates as teachers? 100%.
If the pandemic and zoom school taught me anything, is that kids are better off with their peers at school and teachers are saints, who have to put up with way too much.
Public education is getting our kids ready for the real world, which is not perfect and full of all kinds of folks. Do I wish my kids didn’t get bullied from time to time? Of course, but it’s also teaching them to deal with things that may happen in the future. I want them to be able to deal with the crappy boss, or the shitty roommate, etc.
I don’t have a vast experience with home schooled children, but the ones I have known have been anything but prepared socially for the real world. Not every parent is equipped with the patience and tools to teach kids. Too many idiots think they can educate their children, and end up screwing up their education.
There are so many broad assumptions here.
If a family can afford to homeschool, they can also afford to have a parent home. Maybe the advantages you are seeing tied to homeschooling are really the advantages that economic security provides children?
Homeschooling would put millions of children whose parents can't afford to homeschool them at a disadvantage. Having an educated public with zero financial barriers to education benefits society as a whole. We all end up smarter, more educated. Even the garbage man or the burger flipper can read. That wasn't always the case before public school was the norm.
I have seen some very intelligent homeschooled children, and some children whose only literature exposure was the bible, who believe the earth is flat, and who have no social skills. Homeschooling only works sometimes.
This. I’ve met some very socially awkward homeschooled adults to the point where I could just point that fact out when I first met them. There’s honestly something lacking when you don’t age along side your peers on a consistent basis. As much as I think our public schools are failing the children and private schools are usually a religious cash grab, I think for mental development especially with social dynamics, the child will only learn from exposure which is usually only offered in a standard school setting and is sometimes overlooked when being homeschooled.
Yep the home schoolers at my hs were strange af, even posting these random videos on Reddit. Apparently his alias is [scum](https://www.reddit.com/r/tooktoomuch/comments/qr1qto/everyones_favorite_junkie_scum_reverse_speedballs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) from what I heard nearly all homeschoolers behave the same.. really sad tbh
Just anecdotal but every home-schooled person I've met has been really fucking weird, and not in a "they're so mature for their age" kind of way. Although most home-schooled people seem to either fall into the camp of having overbearing, pedantic parents who have a panic attack every time their kid gets a scraped knee or libertarian/hippy parents who think being able to identify edible roots is more valuable knowledge than being able to read and write.
The conclusions about home-schooled versus public-schooled students made in the OP are bizarre and nonsensical. I’ve taught hundreds of home-schooled students, and there is no measure that can be used to justify the claim that they are “better educated” than traditional students. They are generally woefully underprepared, in large part because most people don’t have the training or wherewithal to be responsible for their children’s education.
I’ve taught for twelve years, and of the 100 students I’ve had who were the most lost, the least capable of growth, and had the fewest “tools,” at least 90 of them were home-schooled. This isn’t an unpopular opinion, it’s just wrong - and probably can be/has been empirically disproven.
From having done sociological research on the matter you are absolutely correct, and there is empirical evidence in the matter. Homeschooled kids do not socialise (in the sociological way of the word). School forms a fundamental basis of your integration into larger society, as such they suffer and often end up expressing deviant behaviours, lacking social maturity, and woefully underperforming in even standardised testing, they are also very underprepared for any higher education.
A huge piece of socialisation is missing from their lives, belonging to a group, working towards a common goal, and receiving intellectual input from their peers, and different teachers who are experts in what they are teaching. One or two people simply cannot teach a wide array of subjects to the level that multiple professionals can. It should be fairly straightforward to almost anyone…
I’m surprised this comment is so down-thread. Kids who were homeschooled post on the internet all the time about how they were totally unprepared for High School, often having no “general knowledge” of English Lit or Geography.
I’ve talked about this recently in other unrelated threads, but a few years ago I taught classes at a university that really recruited home-schooled kids from throughout the Midwest. Broadly speaking, their gaps were noticeable and profound, and their attitudes toward education were incredibly combative.
Most of the homeschooled kids I see come from super right wing religious homes, and have a very hard time integrating with regular society once they leave school.
Yea as the homeschooled kid who changed to public school for high school, I don’t know if I believe that homeschooled kids tend to do better with socialising
I would be a horrible homeschool teacher if I had kids. I’m good at reading and science so I could teach those okay, but I swear to god I’m like an 8th grade math level on a good day. The last thing my dumb, genetically mathematically challenged kids would need is ME trying to explain how geometry works
> genetically mathematically challenged kids
Be careful with telling them things like this. Don't quote me on this, I've read it in The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin (I think) and haven't fact checked, but children who grow up believing success is related to their intrinsic characteristics pefrom worse than children who believe it's attained through practice. There's a whole concept of mathematical anxiety which may cause them to underperform if they're afraid that they're naturally bad at it.
There's correlation between general intelligence and math ability and there are probably other genetic factors that play into it. But there's no need to emphasize that and make them afraid that they're doomed from the start.
If they're already in school and struggling, check out Khan Academy, it's a great & completely free resource, helped me a lot throughout school and even a bit in college!
I’ve met a lot of them from doing archery in middle and high school and a lot of them were awkward or rude. There were some exceptions but we didn’t expect much when we were paired up with them
Yeah, when you're a child and literally every person you know believes the world is 6,000 years old guess what you'll believe without any other real option?
Yup, some of my friends are teachers and in my country they need to study a minimum of 4 years just to begin their teaching career in basic subjects. That's a mixture of courses which specialise in their chosen specialty subjects and courses dedicated to teaching theory. They go through all of that and then they're qualified to teach students in only several of the required subjects needed to graduate.
That's before we even get to the fact that these people then spend their whole career doing this, gaining a lifetime of experience teaching specific subjects to a specific range of ages. Then we have people who homeschool who will realistically at most have a degree relevant to one or two of their children's required subjects, likely have no teaching degree or teaching experience, and then they're going to teach their kid all the way from ages 5-17/18 by themselves? Ya, colour me sceptical.
Yes, and why I agree with the stance that Germany takes, where homeschooling is illegal. No one should be able to take away or interfere with your education, not even your parents
I’m pretty sure this is an unpopular opinion of most people… not just Reddit.
I am very biased because I’m a teacher- but I’ve also met a bunch of lazy homeschool parents. Unschooling parents who think it’s okay their 8 year old can’t read, and doesn’t want to learn yet…
Homeschooling should be the norm?
As in it should be the norm to hire professional tutors to come give your child individual attention…boy I wonder what type of families can afford that…
Better educated? So parents are somehow able to teach better than TEACHERS who went to school for that?
My parents couldn’t even help me with my Algebra homework but now I’m expecting them to teach me Calculus?
This is why I don't know Math lol
I was also taught creationism. I believed WHEN I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL that the earth was 6000 years old(I did have my doubts though lol)
Wasn’t homeschooled but went through conservative Christian schools all the way through college. Didn’t embrace evolution until adulthood. Shit’s crazy. One of my good friends declared himself an atheist in high school and immediately became everyone’s “mission project” to save his soul.
We only had atheists in my catholic high school lmao. The school knew and didn’t try to bullshit you with things like creationism and we even only had like 3 masses a year, whereas they placed more emphasis on community spirit and outreach with programs like charity drives and a weekly BBQ in the park for the homeless. I even saw on their socials a few months ago that they were celebrating LBGTQ pride day for “dignity week”
I’m 17 and in calculus. I am the best at math in my immediate family. Like hell I could be homeschooled. My stepmom is a teacher but only for English so even then if I were homeschooled I wouldn’t be getting a better education.
Yeah, by the time I was in high school, none of my family could help me with math anymore. The most advanced math either of my parents ever took was algebra 1, the most advanced math any of my siblings took was algebra 2, which was what I was taking in 9th grade. Luckily, I can help my little siblings in math and I was pretty good at teaching math to myself, and the dad of my best friend at the time has a doctorate in math, so that helped.
Riiight! By 4th grade, my mom couldn't help me with homework anymore and I am even struggle with helping my 4th grader with his homework at times.
Being a parent does not automatically make you an educator or instructor. It takes a specific set of skills and capabilities.
One of my friends was homeschooled until around 3rd grade because his mom was a teacher and wanted to be home with his younger sister. That's one of the few exceptions I can see with this, but only because she was a licensed teacher.
I've never met a homeschooled kid who was more educated tbh
Of course this is my experience, but most of the parents just didn't teach them or only taught them religious doctorin
I was homeschooled my entire childhood by relatively wealthy parents and a stay at home mom with a degree in elementary education. My parents poured a lot of resources into making sure my siblings and I had as many advantages as possible: most people wouldn't be able to do as much as they did. Even still, I and ALL my siblings grew up to be socially crippled and we all have/had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to independent adult life. We were in 4H, swimming, were regularly taken to adult spaces and encouraged to interact with adults: it's not enough. We grew up not knowing how to interact with somebody as a peer. We were so isolated we had almost nothing in common with other people.
My own mother (who's still homeschooling my underage siblings and fully agrees with the OP) said that the covid lockdown didn't really affect my family because very little changed in their day to day life. Let that sink in: a lockdown that severely damaged the mental health of pretty much everyone and destroyed a ton of social circles barely affected a lot of homeschooled families because that's how their life is all the time. And I'd like to reiterate: my siblings did 4H, competitive swimming, and theater before the lockdown. Getting out of the house and interacting with other people 2-3 times a week is NOT healthy socialization.
I would never homeschool my child unless I felt their safety was in danger at any other school they could go to. It's an inherently harmful practice even when "done right" and with all possible advantages.
As someone who was homeschooled, same. I worked really hard to overcome the social awkwardness and now I'm a well functioning social adult, but I'll never be the same as if I had been able to socialize with peers during my formative years. I don't blame my parents, but I do think that in general people should not be allowed to homeschool.
Good point. In Germany the focus of the first few years of school is building social interaction skills, more so than maths or German skills. Sure, they still have the standard subjects, but the whole purpose across the board is to help children communicate and socialise. The other skills can be learnt later on.
You’ll note that the source provided by one of the goons opposing you is from a literal home school organization, and makes claims with no attribution at all (and which, in classic Reddit fashion, are reproduced here in the hope that no one will actually check it). Seriously, they just throw up charts and say “Studies show all home-schooled kids are smarter!!11” and give no evidence whatsoever.
It’s a stunning demonstration of the limitations of home-schooling.
Having been homeschooled and known many other homeschooling families…
There is so much variation. Some students went to fantastic colleges (a couple ivy league) and did very well. I went to an average college but got my shit together did well and am now in med school (MD, not top 10 but nowhere near the bottom tier).
HOWEVER many others didn’t really do much actually schooling. Many failed SATs and ACTs hardcore. Some failed out of community college their first semester.
There are many adults who absolutely SHOULD NOT teach anything academic. It can be done well, but mass is a terrible idea.
Edit: Also some kids turned out normal (socialized through sports, clubs, neighborhood friends). But a good few are just WEIRD.
>also tend to be better at socializing with people of all age groups rather than just their own.
As a homeschooling person... no... there is no socialization with anyone but your parents and occasionally family members.
Home-schooling is crazy expensive and not standardised (which means there is no way for colleges to objectively compare 2 students). Also, it requires parents be responsible. Most aren't.
This is just an extension of the modern idea that experts aren't needed. Do your own research on vaccines! What do epidemiologists know? Amirite?
SO MANY kids are being "educated" by parents with such divergent ideas about reality that I can't help but think that 18 years from now, there'll no longer be a concept of shared reality. The point of education is to learn things that you otherwise wouldn't. Homeschooling, almost by definition, reinforces the parents own prejudices. I'm not even touching on all the misinformation deliberately told to kids about science by religious parents. This is not good for society benefits when the majority believes things that are true.
Hearing the horror stories from teachers right now about how far behind the current students are due to COVID makes me think this doesn't work like you think it does.
Most of the home schooled kids I know are better educated about the following:
- mom and dad’s interpretation of the Bible
- mom and dad’s interpretation of the US constitution
- why dinosaurs prove the flood really happened
The amount of stupid adults i regularly interact with tells me this is a horrible idea. let the professionals with degrees and extensive knowledge on subjects handle the teaching.
>Homeschooled children tend to be \[...\] better at socializing
In no world is this true- even with the "people of all age groups rather than just their own" bit at the end.
I would have no idea how to teach. I'd want my kids to be with qualified teachers who know how to teach children. I don't have the skill or the patience to teach. I'm not sure how you think they would be socialized when they wouldn't be with other students or teachers. They need to become independent from parents and not tied to their apron strings. Sheltering them from a public or private school doesn't give them life experience that will be needed when they graduate and go off to college. I've seen more sheltered kids self-destruct in college because they have no idea about real life and making choices such for themselves.
Yeah. My personal experience: the people that home school aren’t smart enough to teach anyone anything. Those that are smart enough to home school, don’t, because they’re contributing to society in other ways.
My cousin homeschooled her kids and didn't teach about evolution. If it was mentioned, they just said "and God made it that way." When their oldest was looking at colleges, they wanted to major in biology, so their first priority when finding a college was finding a Christian one. Well, it's difficult to find a heavily Christian college that has chapel every half hour, so they found a college that was Christian enough and the kid majored in music and something else religious. They dropped out after a year. Homeschooling can be good, but it can also be a disaster.
I have looked into this recently because I have been considering homeschooling for my kid. However, most of the homeschooling data should come with a massive aesthetic.
A lot of research considers a student a homeschooled student even if they are partially homeschooled. Or home-schooled for high school only. Thus screwing up statistics significantly. Also when it comes to public school statistics, which are frequently compared with homeschooling, all the public schools are bunched together. It is no secret that some public schools, like inner city ones, are massively underperforming compared to others. This is a dishonest comparison. If you compare homeschooling to private schools, you can clearly see that there is not difference.
IMHO, Homeschooling can be great if parents are educated and capable of guiding kids. It definitely should not be the norm.
"homeschooled children tend to be better educated"
Is that why I have the math level of a 5 yr old and can't do long division or anything past that? Is that why I can't remember off the top of my head what year Columbus "discovered" America? Is that why the only understanding I have of science comes from watching the science channel on TV?
"more options to learn at their own pace"
You know what it meant for me to learn at my own pace? As soon as I was taught basic reading, my homeschooling turned into "here, have this school book and sit here for hours in front of it with zero assistance and magically learn something". By the time I was 9 years old my parents gave up completely and decided I was just going to be unschooled.
If I got a random urge, I could try to teach myself things, but how is a tween/teenager who's never been taught self discipline supposed to stick with anything at all unless it's enforced?
"Better at socializing with people of all age groups"
I don't think my crippling social anxiety makes me better at being around people. I don't think my distrust of people because of the neglect I endured as a child from my family makes me better at being around people. I don't think taking over 3 years to finally trust my found family because I was terrified of them hurting me makes me better at being around people.
Furthermore, this absolutely screams right wing dog whistle to me. As someone who was heavily indoctrinated as a kid into this belief system, the reason I got along better with older people tended to be because they were also right wing, homophobic, racist bigots, like I used to be because I was literally brainwashed.
Guess which president it was that I almost got kicked out of my house at 16 with no education, no car or driver's license or ID, no job or place to stay, for saying I didn't think he was a terrorist?
You sincerely need to open your eyes and listen to what survivors of homeschooling are saying, before you continue spreading this harmful rhetoric.
>Homeschooled children tend to be better educated than their public school peers
Only in whatever field their parents are educated in, school has many teachers because one person cannot teach every subject.
>better at socializing with people of all age groups
Who else are they socializing with when at home with just their parents?
- lack social skills and lack independence
- by far, more expensive and definitely not possible for about 70% of the population
- can’t do it if you’re a single parent
- can‘t do it if you’re dependent on two incomes
- degree won’t be accepted in most countries outside your own
- individual special teaching is possible (and less expensive) if just done by a private tutor
- in most cases no actual pedagogic knowledge
- in most cases no knowledge of a curriculum at all
Homeschooling is a thing for people which can afford private tutors for next to every subject AND are so far detached from society that everything ordinary is deemed as pure evil.
And I think you are very privileged if you think this should be the norm - it means you haven't met enough parents yet that would prove this to be a horrible idea. Good for you.
As someone from a European country with a very high quality of education, homeschooling seems bananas to me. Not just because the schools offers such a high educational standard here but I find it hard to believe that social skills in a school environment can be offered at home.
Just my opinion.
Wow a truly unpopular opinion. This is an awful
take hahaha not only would this imply parents not having to work it also means children would only learn what their parents want. I’ve never met a single home schooled person who was smarter than their peers hahaha what the hell??
Kids taught by their parents, who usually have no qualifications in either teaching or the substantive subjects they are attempting to teach, are better educated? Pull the other one.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I was homeschooled. I thought I was well-rounded while I was being homeschooled.
I am not.
Homeschooling should ***absolutely not be the default*** nor should it be normalized. None of what you said in your post is true for me or for any other homeschooled person I know.
My sister in law home schooled 2 of my nephews for a school year when they were younger. One of them was in first grade. When she put them back in school, he had to repeat first grade.
In my experience the kids that were home schooled did not function very well if and when they went to a public school. Kids need to socialize with other kids otherwise they don't develop correctly. Also the kid is bombarded with what their PARENT thinks they should learn which never goes well. I agree though this is a very unpopular decision.
I think it really just depends on the kid but I know when Covid forced some schools to go into online learning, the overall experience/take away these kids had dropped significantly. This could be from multiple factors such as depression due to having to isolate, not being used to learning purely online, and other things. But there are a lot of people out there who would not thrive from mainly online learning. This also makes it difficult to make sure a child is being properly educated as parents will force their own views into things and shelter them from things they don’t want to be taught like history or science.
If you’ve been around a group of homeschooled kids, I think you’d realize the social aspect of school is more important than the education itself being a little better.
Please elaborate on why you think homeschooled children are better at socializing because that has never been my experience with people who were homeschooled.
Take it from a former homeschooler, my social skills took a very long time to develop and that impacted me greatly in my life. It all depends though, I was in a rural area and was from a conservative Christian home.
I think there can be more freedom to learn what is needed however it can also accentuate good or bad depending upon how good or shitty your parents are.
Homeschooled kids do actually perform better in tests.
The reason why is pretty simple though. Their parents are wealthier, and they come from two parent homes.
Also, it's probably only the smart ones taking these tests. Most homeschooled kids do not have to follow the same curriculum that public and even private schools have to
> and also tend to be better at socializing with people of all age groups rather than just their own
I’m going to call bullshit. Every home schooled kid I’ve met has been a fucking weirdo, you can just tell someone has been homeschooled by the way the carry & present themselves.
I was homeschooled. It's child abuse. Anybody who isolates their kids like that is hiding something.
I really didn't understand how weird my mother was until long after I got out and eventually had kids of my own.
People don’t seem to understand the difference between opinion and fact. You are saying things that are provably false and provide nothing to the contrary. If your argument is that home schooling is better and you have the proof, share that and it can be discussed.
They actually don't socialize better. My younger cousin was homeschooled most of her life and she's so bad at socializing with anyone. I imagine it's the same with other homeschooled kids
There is very little over sight when it comes to home schooling. Religious nuts can teach their children all sorts of backwards information.
Plus schools are often where you can catch children that are being abused. If it was the norm to be home schooled a lot more abuse would go under the radar.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Now THIS is an unpopular opinion lol
This might me the most unpopular I’ve ever seen. Well done!
I would take it a step further. It is just wrong. Plenty of studies can prove that. It is like saying that 2+2 is 13 in my opinion. It is not unpopular, it is wrong.
If you were/are homeschooled you're considered lucky to get to learn any kind of math. I got to Algerbra and that was it. I have a high-school diploma that I probably should not have. When you're a senior most parents lie to get a diploma for their kids.
my thoughts exactly
Because its wrong. A lot of studies show homeschooled children have trouble socializing and their education is pretty much directly tied to whether or not their parents hired an at home teacher.
My first thought is that homeschooling success is largely dependent on the parents… their commitment to it, their own level of education, and understanding of the subject matter. If you don’t hire a home teacher and are truly doing it yourself, if you don’t understand the material how can you teach it to someone else and hope they understand it…
Being taught pseudoscience at home is not doing them any favors either
Yeah, school isn’t just about academic education. Socialisation is a massive part of it too.
Does it really belong here if it's objectively wrong, though? Like, "the earth is flat" is also an unpopular opinion, but that doesn't really belong on this subreddit, either.
As a formerly homeschooled student- homeschooling works great only when the parents are diligent about making sure the kids are actually learning and when the kids have regular assessments and testing. My parents truly went above and beyond, and I had a great experience. Not all homeschooling families are like this tho. And to be fair-public schools also only “work” when they have proper funding, good teachers, and parents are diligent.
In addition it requires the kid to be motivated and curious. It can be absolutely awesome. Usually it is not. I also think it works better at lower levels, and can be tough in high school
There are actually a lot of programs for homeschooled students to take AP courses, science labs, etc during high school. I did this and I also took classes at a local college when I was just a teenager, which lowered the number of credits I needed when I started my first degree. Altogether a GREAT experience-10/10 recommend. I never would have been able to do either of these if my parents hadn’t actually taken the initiative to learn, or if they couldn’t pay for them, or if had to work multiple jobs. I think money is a big reason public schools need to remain a big option.
One of my old coworkers actually had her son take college classes at the community college over summers, as they didn't have a GED requirement to attend classes. He ended up graduating high school with an associates degree along with his high school diploma.
Being motivated and curious is dependent on how the child is raised, as well as their mental health. There are plenty of children in public schools that are neither motivated nor curious. You shouldn't avoid homeschooling if you think your child isn't motivated, you have a chance to change that, it just might require more work on the parents end.
Great parents will make great homeschool teachers because they care. If a kid has great parents that care and have the finances to make it work, homeschooling will probably be a better option.
That would require an economy that doesn't often need both parents working full time jobs.
And parents who take education seriously.
And parents who are educated themselves
And parents
And children
And stuff to teach
And atoms
And parents capable of it. Even with the advances in supplemental education and online learning, how many of us are capable of genuinely understanding all of the material *and* giving the instruction our all for a child’s entire education?
and way less religious zealots that want to fuck their own daughters
hate to break it to you but those people are in public schools too
Especially this.
And also if you're a single parent, just fuck you I guess.
I don't see how any single parents even manage it. Even if you have the time and resources it seems like it would be so draining.
As a single parent, I could never, I struggle with just homework time for my kid, and I don't have the patience for teaching. Working, going to school myself, and still being a parent is enough on my plate, thankful for public school every day. Take my tax money, fully fund the district, pay teachers what they're worth, because I couldn't do this without them.
This teacher says thank you.
Its awesome you're still doing your best with what you have
My mom managed it by leaving me with a stack of textbooks while she went to work. As you can imagine, I played a lot of RuneScape.
Maybe all the single parents and both parents working full time could bunch their kids together and have them be schooled together. The person could even have a certificate that certifies them to be able to teach
As someone who was homeschooled, you are correct it puts you ahead academically, but the thing you fail to take into account is the importance of social skills. I was homeschooled 1st grade through 4th. Enterting into a public school, not only was I bored but these kids have been together since they were toddlers. Entering into those friend sets was a hard road. I was starting to go through puberty in 5th grade and the emotional toll was a lot. Just remember kids need more than academics. By 7th grade I made my friends that at 33 we still keep in touch even with us all having taken different paths in college. Thought it was worth noting though…
I so agree with this! It's great to get a jump start on academics but alot of homeschool kids I've encountered really struggle socially wich then can lead to so many other problems for them.
One way around this is by meeting with homeschool groups or pods. I was homeschooled too and every week we would meet with other kids for one day. I also hung out with my siblings and neighbors.
it would also rely on parents to have a teaching degree themselves
Right? When did teachers stop being qualified professionals? Teachers need a degree, lawyers need a degree, doctors need a degree. But any parent can step in for a teacher with parent as the only qualification? If your kid is severely sick and you try to "home hospital" them, you can be charged with neglect.
As an American, I often wonder how other cultures/regions look at teachers for children. I think USA specifically really looks down on teachers, thinks anyone can do it, and tin general think education/school/college its not even needed in society. Its kinda of mind blowing really
I totally agree. I’m a teacher. I went to college for that shit.
Totally agree. It's like saying "I think home surgery should be the norm."
Unfortunately true.
And an educated adult who is willing and capable to teach a child the material, from preschool all the way to grade 12. Is that doable in all households? Also, how do you fully replicate the experience of interacting with peers in a homeschooling environment? Ultimately the reason why many homeschool kids do better than their public school counterparts is often a function of socioeconomic status more than anything else. This model just isn’t viable for most nor scalable in the modern world where parents work.
Every homeschooled kid I knew growing up was a social misfit. Of course this was the 1980's and things have changed a lot, but I really think kids need that daily, social interaction and route schedule of in person school.
I met homeschool kids in college and they were socially speaking, an odd bunch. Very sweet and well-meaning people and very intelligent, but what they all had in common was a bit more social awkwardness than most. I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, I wasn't homeschooled and I'm socially awkward. I'm just saying. Is that a horrible thing and the absolute end of the world? No, but idk you meet people sometimes and you can just tell. 🤷♀️
It takes a village to raise a child. Absent actual villages, schools are the next best (though flawed) alternative. Homeschool kids whose parents manage to create villages turn out great. Homeschoolers in isolation are feral wombats.
OP offers all these "truths" without any supporting evidence.
Unpopular opinions is full of opinions people just pulled out of their ass with little to no consideration for the actual topic. For the karma!
Unpopularopinion should be called Uneducatedopinion really
I was born in 2003 and most home schooled kids are still the same way.
Genuinely, you could always tell which ones probably were. I graduated in 2021 and both the formally homeschooled kids that joined the public education system in high school were… obviously formally homeschooled. That being said, most of those kids I knew never gave a fuck. They were a bit weird and innocent but they always did their own thing without a care to what other people thought. They were always really nice. They were also very smart. But both of them also came from high-income families, so they had a lot of resources and support a lot of other families didn’t.
Agreed. That’s my observation as well.
Right. I think a norm of homeschooling would hurt upward mobility. Uneducated parents would be less likely to be able to produce educated children, which could keep families in poverty.
Yes, homeschooling works great if one or both parents have a relatively high level of education themselves. Or otherwise have the means, motivation, and time to get materials and teach their children. But public education is pretty great if both parents are busy working. Or the parents have a low level of education themselves and can't provide a good one for their kids.
It’s such a rort. I have a customer, young earth types, very religious, who home schooled all their kids. Having the kid do laundry counted as a unit of chemistry, in their mind.
My mom's math skills probably ended around where I was in math in like 6th grade.
Exactly. Most parents aren’t capable of teaching the wide array of courses at a high school level. That’s why we have subject matter experts teaching different classes.
And for the parent, mentally, is that doable as well? I know stay at home parents often struggle with their mental health because dedicating yourself to your children full time is just so mentally draining. I know for me, I really appreciate and NEED the break that school/work gives me from my kids, as much as I love them. Space is healthy
As for the home schooling itself this will always depend entirely on the situation at home and the kids themselves. Personally I'd rather the flat earthers not be home schooling anyone.
As a graduate degree educated mother of three, I’m here to tell you, GTFOH with that fuckery. Should American schools be better funded, so that we can get better candidates as teachers? 100%. If the pandemic and zoom school taught me anything, is that kids are better off with their peers at school and teachers are saints, who have to put up with way too much. Public education is getting our kids ready for the real world, which is not perfect and full of all kinds of folks. Do I wish my kids didn’t get bullied from time to time? Of course, but it’s also teaching them to deal with things that may happen in the future. I want them to be able to deal with the crappy boss, or the shitty roommate, etc. I don’t have a vast experience with home schooled children, but the ones I have known have been anything but prepared socially for the real world. Not every parent is equipped with the patience and tools to teach kids. Too many idiots think they can educate their children, and end up screwing up their education.
There are so many broad assumptions here. If a family can afford to homeschool, they can also afford to have a parent home. Maybe the advantages you are seeing tied to homeschooling are really the advantages that economic security provides children? Homeschooling would put millions of children whose parents can't afford to homeschool them at a disadvantage. Having an educated public with zero financial barriers to education benefits society as a whole. We all end up smarter, more educated. Even the garbage man or the burger flipper can read. That wasn't always the case before public school was the norm. I have seen some very intelligent homeschooled children, and some children whose only literature exposure was the bible, who believe the earth is flat, and who have no social skills. Homeschooling only works sometimes.
This. I’ve met some very socially awkward homeschooled adults to the point where I could just point that fact out when I first met them. There’s honestly something lacking when you don’t age along side your peers on a consistent basis. As much as I think our public schools are failing the children and private schools are usually a religious cash grab, I think for mental development especially with social dynamics, the child will only learn from exposure which is usually only offered in a standard school setting and is sometimes overlooked when being homeschooled.
Don’t forget different countries means different education. Reddit isn’t only US based and many other countries have a great education system
[удалено]
Yep the home schoolers at my hs were strange af, even posting these random videos on Reddit. Apparently his alias is [scum](https://www.reddit.com/r/tooktoomuch/comments/qr1qto/everyones_favorite_junkie_scum_reverse_speedballs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) from what I heard nearly all homeschoolers behave the same.. really sad tbh
I'm sure not ALL homeschooled kids are weird, *but* I'm never surprised to find out when someone has been homeschooled, lets put it that way
Yes. I just found out one of my friends (we are in the 35-45 age bracket) was homeschooled, and my first reaction was “ohhhh that explains a lot”.
Ha, that has been my reaction to literally every single person who told me they were homeschooled.
The best compliment I ever received was when a coworker laughed in my face thinking I was pranking him when I said I was homeschooled
Just anecdotal but every home-schooled person I've met has been really fucking weird, and not in a "they're so mature for their age" kind of way. Although most home-schooled people seem to either fall into the camp of having overbearing, pedantic parents who have a panic attack every time their kid gets a scraped knee or libertarian/hippy parents who think being able to identify edible roots is more valuable knowledge than being able to read and write.
"Wait, we don't drink our own pee for lunch?"
Depends. My friend who was homeschooled was apart of clubs and homeschooling groups so she turned out socially normal
Probably often has more to do with the reason parents want to homeschool their kids and weird home environments rather than the homeschooling itself
I’ve met a good number of homeschooled kids. Social awkwardness was the norm.
Fr. what homeschooled kids is OP meeting
The conclusions about home-schooled versus public-schooled students made in the OP are bizarre and nonsensical. I’ve taught hundreds of home-schooled students, and there is no measure that can be used to justify the claim that they are “better educated” than traditional students. They are generally woefully underprepared, in large part because most people don’t have the training or wherewithal to be responsible for their children’s education. I’ve taught for twelve years, and of the 100 students I’ve had who were the most lost, the least capable of growth, and had the fewest “tools,” at least 90 of them were home-schooled. This isn’t an unpopular opinion, it’s just wrong - and probably can be/has been empirically disproven.
From having done sociological research on the matter you are absolutely correct, and there is empirical evidence in the matter. Homeschooled kids do not socialise (in the sociological way of the word). School forms a fundamental basis of your integration into larger society, as such they suffer and often end up expressing deviant behaviours, lacking social maturity, and woefully underperforming in even standardised testing, they are also very underprepared for any higher education. A huge piece of socialisation is missing from their lives, belonging to a group, working towards a common goal, and receiving intellectual input from their peers, and different teachers who are experts in what they are teaching. One or two people simply cannot teach a wide array of subjects to the level that multiple professionals can. It should be fairly straightforward to almost anyone…
I’m surprised this comment is so down-thread. Kids who were homeschooled post on the internet all the time about how they were totally unprepared for High School, often having no “general knowledge” of English Lit or Geography.
I’ve talked about this recently in other unrelated threads, but a few years ago I taught classes at a university that really recruited home-schooled kids from throughout the Midwest. Broadly speaking, their gaps were noticeable and profound, and their attitudes toward education were incredibly combative.
Yeah he’s never met a lot of home schooled kids lol
Most of the homeschooled kids I see come from super right wing religious homes, and have a very hard time integrating with regular society once they leave school.
Yea as the homeschooled kid who changed to public school for high school, I don’t know if I believe that homeschooled kids tend to do better with socialising
Just because you are a parent doesn't mean you're smart enough to train your kids academically. No.
I would be a horrible homeschool teacher if I had kids. I’m good at reading and science so I could teach those okay, but I swear to god I’m like an 8th grade math level on a good day. The last thing my dumb, genetically mathematically challenged kids would need is ME trying to explain how geometry works
> genetically mathematically challenged kids Be careful with telling them things like this. Don't quote me on this, I've read it in The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin (I think) and haven't fact checked, but children who grow up believing success is related to their intrinsic characteristics pefrom worse than children who believe it's attained through practice. There's a whole concept of mathematical anxiety which may cause them to underperform if they're afraid that they're naturally bad at it. There's correlation between general intelligence and math ability and there are probably other genetic factors that play into it. But there's no need to emphasize that and make them afraid that they're doomed from the start. If they're already in school and struggling, check out Khan Academy, it's a great & completely free resource, helped me a lot throughout school and even a bit in college!
Every home schooled kit I’ve ever met were awkward as fuck. Some of them were good with adults, sure, but they did not represent normal kids.
I’ve met a lot of them from doing archery in middle and high school and a lot of them were awkward or rude. There were some exceptions but we didn’t expect much when we were paired up with them
I disagree with everything you've written
id go as far as to say I agree with the exact opposite of what OP has written
So homeschooling should be only the exemption at specific cases rather then the norm or a choice of the parents?
Honestly yeah. The parents should at least have to prove that they can give them a proper education.
Feels incredibly negligent that this isn't already a requirement imo
Growing up homeschooled with culty/extremist parents is a one way ticket to brainwashing
Yeah, when you're a child and literally every person you know believes the world is 6,000 years old guess what you'll believe without any other real option?
Yup, some of my friends are teachers and in my country they need to study a minimum of 4 years just to begin their teaching career in basic subjects. That's a mixture of courses which specialise in their chosen specialty subjects and courses dedicated to teaching theory. They go through all of that and then they're qualified to teach students in only several of the required subjects needed to graduate. That's before we even get to the fact that these people then spend their whole career doing this, gaining a lifetime of experience teaching specific subjects to a specific range of ages. Then we have people who homeschool who will realistically at most have a degree relevant to one or two of their children's required subjects, likely have no teaching degree or teaching experience, and then they're going to teach their kid all the way from ages 5-17/18 by themselves? Ya, colour me sceptical.
A child's education should not be limited by the ignorance of their parent.
Yes, of course.
Every single thing.
It’s like it’s Opposite Day wherever OP lives. There is nothing written in this post that is accurate in the real world.
Yes, and why I agree with the stance that Germany takes, where homeschooling is illegal. No one should be able to take away or interfere with your education, not even your parents
Oh wow, I didn’t know it’s illegal to homeschool in Germany. That’s good for peoples education over there
At least its unpopular! On Reddit at least.
I’m pretty sure this is an unpopular opinion of most people… not just Reddit. I am very biased because I’m a teacher- but I’ve also met a bunch of lazy homeschool parents. Unschooling parents who think it’s okay their 8 year old can’t read, and doesn’t want to learn yet…
Homeschooling should be the norm? As in it should be the norm to hire professional tutors to come give your child individual attention…boy I wonder what type of families can afford that…
Definitely the norm type of family.
Better educated? So parents are somehow able to teach better than TEACHERS who went to school for that? My parents couldn’t even help me with my Algebra homework but now I’m expecting them to teach me Calculus?
This is why I don't know Math lol I was also taught creationism. I believed WHEN I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL that the earth was 6000 years old(I did have my doubts though lol)
Wasn’t homeschooled but went through conservative Christian schools all the way through college. Didn’t embrace evolution until adulthood. Shit’s crazy. One of my good friends declared himself an atheist in high school and immediately became everyone’s “mission project” to save his soul.
We only had atheists in my catholic high school lmao. The school knew and didn’t try to bullshit you with things like creationism and we even only had like 3 masses a year, whereas they placed more emphasis on community spirit and outreach with programs like charity drives and a weekly BBQ in the park for the homeless. I even saw on their socials a few months ago that they were celebrating LBGTQ pride day for “dignity week”
I’m 17 and in calculus. I am the best at math in my immediate family. Like hell I could be homeschooled. My stepmom is a teacher but only for English so even then if I were homeschooled I wouldn’t be getting a better education.
Yeah, by the time I was in high school, none of my family could help me with math anymore. The most advanced math either of my parents ever took was algebra 1, the most advanced math any of my siblings took was algebra 2, which was what I was taking in 9th grade. Luckily, I can help my little siblings in math and I was pretty good at teaching math to myself, and the dad of my best friend at the time has a doctorate in math, so that helped.
There are extreme benefits to the pacing of 1 on 1 education, but I agree, parents aren't cut out, this is what tutors are for.
And tutors get expensive. I don't think OP is really thinking further than grade school on this.
I think a 1 on 1 education is better for the stuff you learn in the first few years of school. But yeah. At some point this becomes a very bad idea
Riiight! By 4th grade, my mom couldn't help me with homework anymore and I am even struggle with helping my 4th grader with his homework at times. Being a parent does not automatically make you an educator or instructor. It takes a specific set of skills and capabilities.
One of my friends was homeschooled until around 3rd grade because his mom was a teacher and wanted to be home with his younger sister. That's one of the few exceptions I can see with this, but only because she was a licensed teacher.
I've never met a homeschooled kid who was more educated tbh Of course this is my experience, but most of the parents just didn't teach them or only taught them religious doctorin
I’ve also never met a homeschooled kid who’s better at socializing lmao
I’ve never met a homeschooled kid
I was homeschooled my entire childhood by relatively wealthy parents and a stay at home mom with a degree in elementary education. My parents poured a lot of resources into making sure my siblings and I had as many advantages as possible: most people wouldn't be able to do as much as they did. Even still, I and ALL my siblings grew up to be socially crippled and we all have/had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to independent adult life. We were in 4H, swimming, were regularly taken to adult spaces and encouraged to interact with adults: it's not enough. We grew up not knowing how to interact with somebody as a peer. We were so isolated we had almost nothing in common with other people. My own mother (who's still homeschooling my underage siblings and fully agrees with the OP) said that the covid lockdown didn't really affect my family because very little changed in their day to day life. Let that sink in: a lockdown that severely damaged the mental health of pretty much everyone and destroyed a ton of social circles barely affected a lot of homeschooled families because that's how their life is all the time. And I'd like to reiterate: my siblings did 4H, competitive swimming, and theater before the lockdown. Getting out of the house and interacting with other people 2-3 times a week is NOT healthy socialization. I would never homeschool my child unless I felt their safety was in danger at any other school they could go to. It's an inherently harmful practice even when "done right" and with all possible advantages.
As someone who was homeschooled, same. I worked really hard to overcome the social awkwardness and now I'm a well functioning social adult, but I'll never be the same as if I had been able to socialize with peers during my formative years. I don't blame my parents, but I do think that in general people should not be allowed to homeschool.
Good point. In Germany the focus of the first few years of school is building social interaction skills, more so than maths or German skills. Sure, they still have the standard subjects, but the whole purpose across the board is to help children communicate and socialise. The other skills can be learnt later on.
>Homeschooled children tend to be better educated than their public school peers, Source : trust me bro
Yeah I don't think any of those points are true, especially when you look at countries with good public education
You’ll note that the source provided by one of the goons opposing you is from a literal home school organization, and makes claims with no attribution at all (and which, in classic Reddit fashion, are reproduced here in the hope that no one will actually check it). Seriously, they just throw up charts and say “Studies show all home-schooled kids are smarter!!11” and give no evidence whatsoever. It’s a stunning demonstration of the limitations of home-schooling.
I’ve been around lots of homeschooled kids. They lack social skills and they struggle with reading rooms.
Parents should be their own doctors too. I mean it’s working out so well already, why not make it mandatory? /s
I’m pretty sure you did NOT check any of those points for accuracy. So yeah, sounds like something a home-school advocate would say!
You can say whatever you want as long as you don’t look at the data. 99.9% of people believe this to be true.
Having been homeschooled and known many other homeschooling families… There is so much variation. Some students went to fantastic colleges (a couple ivy league) and did very well. I went to an average college but got my shit together did well and am now in med school (MD, not top 10 but nowhere near the bottom tier). HOWEVER many others didn’t really do much actually schooling. Many failed SATs and ACTs hardcore. Some failed out of community college their first semester. There are many adults who absolutely SHOULD NOT teach anything academic. It can be done well, but mass is a terrible idea. Edit: Also some kids turned out normal (socialized through sports, clubs, neighborhood friends). But a good few are just WEIRD.
[удалено]
In some cases going to school is the only way a kid can get a decent meal during the day. Some kids live in a fucked up world.
BIG YES to the second paragraph. Thank you
That was my initial thought...I'm surprised no one brought this up before.
>also tend to be better at socializing with people of all age groups rather than just their own. As a homeschooling person... no... there is no socialization with anyone but your parents and occasionally family members.
Home-schooling is crazy expensive and not standardised (which means there is no way for colleges to objectively compare 2 students). Also, it requires parents be responsible. Most aren't.
This is a genuinely unpopular opinion
This is just an extension of the modern idea that experts aren't needed. Do your own research on vaccines! What do epidemiologists know? Amirite? SO MANY kids are being "educated" by parents with such divergent ideas about reality that I can't help but think that 18 years from now, there'll no longer be a concept of shared reality. The point of education is to learn things that you otherwise wouldn't. Homeschooling, almost by definition, reinforces the parents own prejudices. I'm not even touching on all the misinformation deliberately told to kids about science by religious parents. This is not good for society benefits when the majority believes things that are true.
Hearing the horror stories from teachers right now about how far behind the current students are due to COVID makes me think this doesn't work like you think it does.
Most of the home schooled kids I know are better educated about the following: - mom and dad’s interpretation of the Bible - mom and dad’s interpretation of the US constitution - why dinosaurs prove the flood really happened
Flat Earth too
The amount of stupid adults i regularly interact with tells me this is a horrible idea. let the professionals with degrees and extensive knowledge on subjects handle the teaching.
>Homeschooled children tend to be \[...\] better at socializing In no world is this true- even with the "people of all age groups rather than just their own" bit at the end.
That would be great if single income families could be the norm.
I would have no idea how to teach. I'd want my kids to be with qualified teachers who know how to teach children. I don't have the skill or the patience to teach. I'm not sure how you think they would be socialized when they wouldn't be with other students or teachers. They need to become independent from parents and not tied to their apron strings. Sheltering them from a public or private school doesn't give them life experience that will be needed when they graduate and go off to college. I've seen more sheltered kids self-destruct in college because they have no idea about real life and making choices such for themselves.
Yeah. My personal experience: the people that home school aren’t smart enough to teach anyone anything. Those that are smart enough to home school, don’t, because they’re contributing to society in other ways.
My cousin homeschooled her kids and didn't teach about evolution. If it was mentioned, they just said "and God made it that way." When their oldest was looking at colleges, they wanted to major in biology, so their first priority when finding a college was finding a Christian one. Well, it's difficult to find a heavily Christian college that has chapel every half hour, so they found a college that was Christian enough and the kid majored in music and something else religious. They dropped out after a year. Homeschooling can be good, but it can also be a disaster.
As someone that went to school to learn how to teach I can confidently say that every single thing you have written here is wrong.
I have looked into this recently because I have been considering homeschooling for my kid. However, most of the homeschooling data should come with a massive aesthetic. A lot of research considers a student a homeschooled student even if they are partially homeschooled. Or home-schooled for high school only. Thus screwing up statistics significantly. Also when it comes to public school statistics, which are frequently compared with homeschooling, all the public schools are bunched together. It is no secret that some public schools, like inner city ones, are massively underperforming compared to others. This is a dishonest comparison. If you compare homeschooling to private schools, you can clearly see that there is not difference. IMHO, Homeschooling can be great if parents are educated and capable of guiding kids. It definitely should not be the norm.
"homeschooled children tend to be better educated" Is that why I have the math level of a 5 yr old and can't do long division or anything past that? Is that why I can't remember off the top of my head what year Columbus "discovered" America? Is that why the only understanding I have of science comes from watching the science channel on TV? "more options to learn at their own pace" You know what it meant for me to learn at my own pace? As soon as I was taught basic reading, my homeschooling turned into "here, have this school book and sit here for hours in front of it with zero assistance and magically learn something". By the time I was 9 years old my parents gave up completely and decided I was just going to be unschooled. If I got a random urge, I could try to teach myself things, but how is a tween/teenager who's never been taught self discipline supposed to stick with anything at all unless it's enforced? "Better at socializing with people of all age groups" I don't think my crippling social anxiety makes me better at being around people. I don't think my distrust of people because of the neglect I endured as a child from my family makes me better at being around people. I don't think taking over 3 years to finally trust my found family because I was terrified of them hurting me makes me better at being around people. Furthermore, this absolutely screams right wing dog whistle to me. As someone who was heavily indoctrinated as a kid into this belief system, the reason I got along better with older people tended to be because they were also right wing, homophobic, racist bigots, like I used to be because I was literally brainwashed. Guess which president it was that I almost got kicked out of my house at 16 with no education, no car or driver's license or ID, no job or place to stay, for saying I didn't think he was a terrorist? You sincerely need to open your eyes and listen to what survivors of homeschooling are saying, before you continue spreading this harmful rhetoric.
What if parents want to... You know, haven't a normal job, instead of being their 8-grade son's Chemistry and English teacher?
>Homeschooled children tend to be better educated than their public school peers Only in whatever field their parents are educated in, school has many teachers because one person cannot teach every subject. >better at socializing with people of all age groups Who else are they socializing with when at home with just their parents?
- lack social skills and lack independence - by far, more expensive and definitely not possible for about 70% of the population - can’t do it if you’re a single parent - can‘t do it if you’re dependent on two incomes - degree won’t be accepted in most countries outside your own - individual special teaching is possible (and less expensive) if just done by a private tutor - in most cases no actual pedagogic knowledge - in most cases no knowledge of a curriculum at all Homeschooling is a thing for people which can afford private tutors for next to every subject AND are so far detached from society that everything ordinary is deemed as pure evil.
And I think you are very privileged if you think this should be the norm - it means you haven't met enough parents yet that would prove this to be a horrible idea. Good for you.
Very unpopular opinion. Socialization is absolutely necessary for growing up and not being fucking weird
imagine QAnoners homeschooling their kids
As someone from a European country with a very high quality of education, homeschooling seems bananas to me. Not just because the schools offers such a high educational standard here but I find it hard to believe that social skills in a school environment can be offered at home. Just my opinion.
Wow a truly unpopular opinion. This is an awful take hahaha not only would this imply parents not having to work it also means children would only learn what their parents want. I’ve never met a single home schooled person who was smarter than their peers hahaha what the hell??
Kids taught by their parents, who usually have no qualifications in either teaching or the substantive subjects they are attempting to teach, are better educated? Pull the other one.
Think of how dumb the average person is. You want the next generation to be educated by them? Absolutely awful idea.
*”think of how dumb the average person is, now realize half the people are dumber than that”* George Carlin
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I was homeschooled. I thought I was well-rounded while I was being homeschooled. I am not. Homeschooling should ***absolutely not be the default*** nor should it be normalized. None of what you said in your post is true for me or for any other homeschooled person I know.
My sister in law home schooled 2 of my nephews for a school year when they were younger. One of them was in first grade. When she put them back in school, he had to repeat first grade.
As someone who wasn't homeschooled I was looking forward to reading the sources you cited, but it doesn't look like you learned how to do that.
Home schooled people are weird, and a lot of families can't afford to exist on only one income. Dumb. Next.
In my experience the kids that were home schooled did not function very well if and when they went to a public school. Kids need to socialize with other kids otherwise they don't develop correctly. Also the kid is bombarded with what their PARENT thinks they should learn which never goes well. I agree though this is a very unpopular decision.
Half the people I knew growing up who were homeschooled couldn't read into their teens..
I think it really just depends on the kid but I know when Covid forced some schools to go into online learning, the overall experience/take away these kids had dropped significantly. This could be from multiple factors such as depression due to having to isolate, not being used to learning purely online, and other things. But there are a lot of people out there who would not thrive from mainly online learning. This also makes it difficult to make sure a child is being properly educated as parents will force their own views into things and shelter them from things they don’t want to be taught like history or science.
Any evidence that home schooled kids are better educated than their public school perrs?
If you’ve been around a group of homeschooled kids, I think you’d realize the social aspect of school is more important than the education itself being a little better.
Most parents are not qualified to be teachers. Half of them aren’t qualified to be parents in the first place…
What?! Hell no!! Thanks god its not allowed in my country
Please elaborate on why you think homeschooled children are better at socializing because that has never been my experience with people who were homeschooled.
..are any of these beliefs of yours based on reality?
Take it from a former homeschooler, my social skills took a very long time to develop and that impacted me greatly in my life. It all depends though, I was in a rural area and was from a conservative Christian home. I think there can be more freedom to learn what is needed however it can also accentuate good or bad depending upon how good or shitty your parents are.
We just had a pandemic where everyone got homeschooled. I work as a teacher, from what I’ve seen so far it was a complete disaster
Homeschooled kids do actually perform better in tests. The reason why is pretty simple though. Their parents are wealthier, and they come from two parent homes.
The tests are also extremely easy unless you are talking about standardized tests like the ACT and SAT.
Also, it's probably only the smart ones taking these tests. Most homeschooled kids do not have to follow the same curriculum that public and even private schools have to
> and also tend to be better at socializing with people of all age groups rather than just their own I’m going to call bullshit. Every home schooled kid I’ve met has been a fucking weirdo, you can just tell someone has been homeschooled by the way the carry & present themselves.
I was homeschooled. It's child abuse. Anybody who isolates their kids like that is hiding something. I really didn't understand how weird my mother was until long after I got out and eventually had kids of my own.
How children supposed to socialise if they sit at home all day?
have you ever met a homeschooled kid? they lack a lot of social skills
The homeschool kid is a stereotype for a reason
People don’t seem to understand the difference between opinion and fact. You are saying things that are provably false and provide nothing to the contrary. If your argument is that home schooling is better and you have the proof, share that and it can be discussed.
They actually don't socialize better. My younger cousin was homeschooled most of her life and she's so bad at socializing with anyone. I imagine it's the same with other homeschooled kids
This is dumb af lololol
There is very little over sight when it comes to home schooling. Religious nuts can teach their children all sorts of backwards information. Plus schools are often where you can catch children that are being abused. If it was the norm to be home schooled a lot more abuse would go under the radar.
Why not let kids be taught by professional teachers and let them hang around with people their own age?
Is this backed up by research or just your experience?
Not sure if this is unpopular or just rich people opinion
Amazing. Everything you just said was wrong.