Opinions on home schooling?

Question

I was talking to my husband the other day about school and I was saying during high school I'd want to home school our child, he wants to home school our child as early as middle school and high school. 
We were both home schooled in high school, but went to public elementary and middle schools.

His look on it was that being home school let him still get his education while get more life skills and focus on his hobbies, he got to travel the country training horses with big shot trainers and even spent a year in Hawaii as a head trainer while also competing in motocross, so he had a lot of fun, he's gotten a lot of life skills that he feels like you don't learn in schools and he has a high IQ.

When I brought up the social aspect his view on it was is he had plenty of friends he hung onto from school, but also had plenty from his hobbies that he got to spend lots of time with and he's a social butterfly, runs a successful business and has great people skills. And I kinda agree that school did nothing to prepare me as far as life skills.

So what's your opinions on home schooling? Education, social aspect, do you plan on home schooling, why or why not?

I'd like to see other people's views on it.

Answer

We are homeschooling our kids. We have them enrolled in sports. They have plenty of interaction with people all of the time. I don't believe that "socialization" in school is necessarily beneficial. These days, lots of schools don't even allow kids to talk during lunch time. I prefer my kids to have real world experience and social interaction. Real life is much different from what happens in a school setting. My kids started out in public school. Since we started homeschooling, they are completely different. I absolutely love it.

Answer

I think it really depends on the area you live, the personality of your child, and whether you feel you can oversee homeschooling. When I say the area you live, I mean what hobbies or interests would your child be able to indulge in? Are there a variety of things kids can do or join? What about clubs? Our local 4-H let home schooled kids join and they could participate in many different things. Also, you have to think, would traveling to Hawaii be an option for your child? Would traveling anywhere be an option? In one year I went to California, Montana and Colorado. And that while in public school. As far as personality, I'm a homebody,  I was in high school and I still am lol. Homeschooling would have been a disaster for me because it would have been hard for me to put myself out there and join things or make new friends. My husband would have done great, he never meets a stranger lol. My personality would make me an awful homeschool parent. We struggle with homework as it is. You just really have to weigh the pros and cons once your child is at that point and decide if homeschooling is a good fit for all of you.

Answer

They have really nice homeschooling co-ops now, where a group of like minded parents get together and all home school, but once a week they meet up at a community building of some sort and each parent teaches the group in a group setting a special skill. Like the group I'm talking about, one of the dads is great at baseball so a couple months a year he teaches the kids baseball on Saturdays; one of the moms is a very talented musician, so she teaches all of the kids different musical instruments for an hour on Wednesdays, followed by one of the moms who is fluent in Spanish teaching all the kids Spanish for an hour. Then some Wednesday's they'll have a computer class taught by one of the dads who is an IT guy, or they have a field trip to a museum as a group, or a bunch of other things that they do. Then the rest of the week they're traditionally home schooled at their individual houses. To me, I've always thought that was a great option. It gets the group interaction and the social skills, but the individual attention and focus of being taught at home.

Answer

They are both good choices, so maybe ask the child what he/she whats to do at those points?

Answer

I think homeschooling CAN be a great option - especially because it gives you the chance to tailor the child's education to what works best for them!
The only criticisms I have are:
1. You need to have some sort of professional overseer. Maybe your part of an online shool, or still report to the public shool, something like that. But if you're in the US and depending on what state, its not required and I think that's detrimental to the kids overall education. It becomes too easy to fall through the cracks and get behind if you have no outside help.
2. Kids should still be involved in learning activities with peers. Maybe that's a co-op that meets once a week. Maybe it's soccer practice. Maybe it's book clubs and dance lessons. Whatever.
3. Parents should realize that they might not be able to successfully teach a certain subject for a certain age. I know I wouldn't be able to teach Chemistry! But if hat happens, don't let it fall by the wayside. Get help! It's your job to find someone who can teach. Maybe it's a college course. Maybe a private tutor. Maybe going to public school just for that class. 
With dedicated parents who have access to the right resources, homeschooling can be wonderful. It's something I'd consider trying for my own kids.

Answer

We have considered homeschooling especially since our oldest is autistic. At the same time I feel like my kids need to social aspect of a class room. I'm torn, really. My brothers best friend was home school since day 1. He has no friends growing up until he met my brother when they were 17, and both got a job at blockbuster. Also, I honestly don't think I'm capable of teaching certain things at home. Especially math. I'm a smart lady, but when it comes to math I might as well be 17..There are just a lot of aspects to consider.

Answer

I plan on homeschooling for a time. I have a degree in children's cognitive development and plan to use it to teach them k-5th grade. However once they reach jr high level, I plan to send them to public school. I honestly think that homeschooling provides a lot of independent thinking and problem solving for a child. So, if they can learn good foundations, I would then send them to jr high. That being said, if you plan to homeschool, it is very important to have your child join an extracurricular activity to work on social skills.

Opinions on home schooling?

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