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Homeschooling


joD

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Thanks, LBW. I love talking to secular homeschoolers! It's refreshing! In Feb I took my kids to an unschooling week in Sandysky Oh at the Kalahari Waterpark. It was the first non christian homeschooling even I have attended in my 20 years of homeschooling. Talk about a culture shock! In the arcade, I ran into a fellow homeschooler sporting a tattoo on her ankle and balancing a Bud Light along with her kids tickets/tokiens, etc. I am beginning to appreciate diversity, and change in a way I never was "allowed" to before! And, yes, I'll let ya'll know how it goes putting out the feelers for a new group!

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I can understand if the local public school system is crap. In some parts of the country it is excellent, though, or at least good enough.

 

VC, you said in another topic that our natural setting was small bands of hunter/gatherers. If this is the case, then wouldn't trying to learn in a group of 30 students seem quite unnatural? My sympathy is for teachers who have to teach and control 30 kids. I know of a few teachers who were so frustrated that they decided to leave the profession.

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joD,

 

I had a great experience homeschooling my kids for a couple of years.

 

This topic has come up pretty often at Ex-C, so you might want to click on "search" and enter "homeschooled." I did, thinking to post links here, but there were so many threads I thought it easier just to make the suggestion.

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Thanks, Pitchu! I'm going to look them up! And, btw, I read your story....wow! What a story! Have you considered writing a book? How many other people are stuck in toxic religious "systems" and don't even know there is a way out. Glad you found the door!

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I can understand if the local public school system is crap. In some parts of the country it is excellent, though, or at least good enough.

 

VC, you said in another topic that our natural setting was small bands of hunter/gatherers. If this is the case, then wouldn't trying to learn in a group of 30 students seem quite unnatural? My sympathy is for teachers who have to teach and control 30 kids. I know of a few teachers who were so frustrated that they decided to leave the profession.

 

20 to 25 is the norm in most other industrialized countries. People I know from overseas are routinely quite shocked when they hear about American class sizes. It is because we undervalue public education and the teaching profession compared to almost every other advanced democracy.

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I routinely teach classes with over thirty students. It is a nightmare in terms of classroom management if the class has immature or misplaced students. The lower the level (college placement, regular, fundamental), the greater the difficulty. Even for well-behaved classes, large size means a heavy work load in terms of grading (I can't assign as much writing) and less opportunity to get to know and help each student. More fall through the cracks.

 

Public schools, even here in Tennessee, are fine so long as the parent is actively involved. Be a part of your child's education. The curricula are good, the textbooks are good...if the parent is involved, the negative effects of large class sizes and/or mediocre teachers is mitigated.

 

If you can afford to homeschool and are qualified to do so (and you can provide your children with socialization opportunities), go for it. But you don't have to. My two daughters are excelling in public schools, as their mother and I did. Like their parents, they will have little problem with college.

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Thanks, Pitchu! I'm going to look them up! And, btw, I read your story....wow! What a story! Have you considered writing a book? How many other people are stuck in toxic religious "systems" and don't even know there is a way out. Glad you found the door!

 

Thanks, joD.

 

Yeah, when I wrote my anti-Testimony it was like a good cleansing. I don't think much about those days anymore.

 

As for writing a book, I do write for musical theater and, somehow, I don't "hear the song" of Child Toting Around Stillborn Baby Brother as a Comfort Toy.

 

But again, thanks for taking the time to read it.

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As a person who was home schooled their whole life except for a brief stint in public school in grades 3 and 4, I find that the socialisation issue is extremely relevant. I think it takes a huge effort on the part of the parents to make sure that the child is exposed to a relatively large group of kids on a regular basis, but if this doesn't happen a home schooled kid will never really learn how to deal with social group situations. I saw it happen over and over, and we all knew how to spot other home schoolers at any sort of social gathering, like choir or camp or sports events or music recitals: standing alone, not talking to anybody, usually with a terrified look on their face, while every other kid in the room carries on like they're having a good time.

 

I'm pretty sure one could find ways of avoid this, but put some serious thought into it. As an adult, I have permanent social phobias, due in no small part to being far more socially isolated than my peers. I simply don't have the self confidence to put my self out there, and in a group situation I can't cope at all. As far as I can tell from other homeschooled adults, my feelings are pretty much par for the course except for some very outgoing, very naturally confidant kids who had natural leadership skills from childhood. This is my experience, and if it's exceptional, that's fine, but at least think about how exactly you can get your kids involved with a large group of other kids on a consistent basis. They need to learn how to function in that situation in order to be a happy part of this society.

 

Secondly, quality of education is a real concern. In certain areas, homeschoolers seem to consistently outperform other kids, especially in english, history, social studies, art. In math, science, physics, and chemistry, it can be a lot harder for a parent to teach, and a lot harder for a kid to teach themselves from textbooks and such. I would strongly consider finding a teacher or tutor in these areas, because many people are not capable of teaching these subjects unless they aced them themselves and are totally up on the information. these are very complicated at the highschool level and many homeschoolers either perform well below their intelligence in these areas or, like me, never complete them at all because nobody could help us learn. Find out early if you are going to be up to teaching this to your kids. If not, enlist help.

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As a person who was home schooled their whole life except for a brief stint in public school in grades 3 and 4, I find that the socialisation issue is extremely relevant. I think it takes a huge effort on the part of the parents to make sure that the child is exposed to a relatively large group of kids on a regular basis, but if this doesn't happen a home schooled kid will never really learn how to deal with social group situations. I saw it happen over and over, and we all knew how to spot other home schoolers at any sort of social gathering, like choir or camp or sports events or music recitals: standing alone, not talking to anybody, usually with a terrified look on their face, while every other kid in the room carries on like they're having a good time.

 

I'm pretty sure one could find ways of avoid this, but put some serious thought into it. As an adult, I have permanent social phobias, due in no small part to being far more socially isolated than my peers. I simply don't have the self confidence to put my self out there, and in a group situation I can't cope at all. As far as I can tell from other homeschooled adults, my feelings are pretty much par for the course except for some very outgoing, very naturally confidant kids who had natural leadership skills from childhood. This is my experience, and if it's exceptional, that's fine, but at least think about how exactly you can get your kids involved with a large group of other kids on a consistent basis. They need to learn how to function in that situation in order to be a happy part of this society.

 

Secondly, quality of education is a real concern. In certain areas, homeschoolers seem to consistently outperform other kids, especially in english, history, social studies, art. In math, science, physics, and chemistry, it can be a lot harder for a parent to teach, and a lot harder for a kid to teach themselves from textbooks and such. I would strongly consider finding a teacher or tutor in these areas, because many people are not capable of teaching these subjects unless they aced them themselves and are totally up on the information. these are very complicated at the highschool level and many homeschoolers either perform well below their intelligence in these areas or, like me, never complete them at all because nobody could help us learn. Find out early if you are going to be up to teaching this to your kids. If not, enlist help.

I do agree that it's important for parents to ensure social opportunities for their children when homeschooling. I was a pretty isolated homeschooler, and I'm sure it's affected me socially (though I had no problem making plenty of great friends during college). It just doesn't seem to me that socialization and formal education need to happen at the same time. As far as the advanced sciences, mathematics, etc., I agree that outside help would be necessary in the case of a parent who isn't knowledgeable of those subjects; I would even encourage my high schooler to dual-enroll in intro college courses for these topics if they planned to study them. My husband has mentioned that he always wanted to study advanced science/math in high school and wasn't able to do so (he was also homeschooled), so I do think you're correct in your observation.

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As a person who was home schooled their whole life except for a brief stint in public school in grades 3 and 4, I find that the socialisation issue is extremely relevant. I think it takes a huge effort on the part of the parents to make sure that the child is exposed to a relatively large group of kids on a regular basis, but if this doesn't happen a home schooled kid will never really learn how to deal with social group situations. I saw it happen over and over, and we all knew how to spot other home schoolers at any sort of social gathering, like choir or camp or sports events or music recitals: standing alone, not talking to anybody, usually with a terrified look on their face, while every other kid in the room carries on like they're having a good time.

 

I'm pretty sure one could find ways of avoid this, but put some serious thought into it. As an adult, I have permanent social phobias, due in no small part to being far more socially isolated than my peers. I simply don't have the self confidence to put my self out there, and in a group situation I can't cope at all. As far as I can tell from other homeschooled adults, my feelings are pretty much par for the course except for some very outgoing, very naturally confidant kids who had natural leadership skills from childhood. This is my experience, and if it's exceptional, that's fine, but at least think about how exactly you can get your kids involved with a large group of other kids on a consistent basis. They need to learn how to function in that situation in order to be a happy part of this society.

 

Secondly, quality of education is a real concern. In certain areas, homeschoolers seem to consistently outperform other kids, especially in english, history, social studies, art. In math, science, physics, and chemistry, it can be a lot harder for a parent to teach, and a lot harder for a kid to teach themselves from textbooks and such. I would strongly consider finding a teacher or tutor in these areas, because many people are not capable of teaching these subjects unless they aced them themselves and are totally up on the information. these are very complicated at the highschool level and many homeschoolers either perform well below their intelligence in these areas or, like me, never complete them at all because nobody could help us learn. Find out early if you are going to be up to teaching this to your kids. If not, enlist help.

I do agree that it's important for parents to ensure social opportunities for their children when homeschooling. I was a pretty isolated homeschooler, and I'm sure it's affected me socially (though I had no problem making plenty of great friends during college). It just doesn't seem to me that socialization and formal education need to happen at the same time. As far as the advanced sciences, mathematics, etc., I agree that outside help would be necessary in the case of a parent who isn't knowledgeable of those subjects; I would even encourage my high schooler to dual-enroll in intro college courses for these topics if they planned to study them. My husband has mentioned that he always wanted to study advanced science/math in high school and wasn't able to do so (he was also homeschooled), so I do think you're correct in your observation.

 

 

I totally respect your viewpoint, ghostchild, you being the grown up homeschool student and all. But, like any school system, there are variances. "It takes a lot of effort on the part of the parent to make sure the kids have time in big groups, friends to hang out with, etc. Depending on your location, it can be a big challenge. My kids were always super busy in group activities both in the community, church and our homeschool group. So it was never an issue before. Now our community is smaller, less tolerant of non religious types, etc. so it's maxing my creativity at the moment! And, I agree, hiring out the higher end math and sciences makes a lot of sense. We have always done that. One of my older kids did college courses her senior year of high school. We try to bring our kids into the world, not keep them from it. I was the product of the public school system and in every actvity possible. It created in me a desire for busyness, without the ability to make and keep long lasting friends. So, no system is perfect! We all do the best we can with what we've got!

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I do agree that it's important for parents to ensure social opportunities for their children when homeschooling. I was a pretty isolated homeschooler, and I'm sure it's affected me socially (though I had no problem making plenty of great friends during college). It just doesn't seem to me that socialization and formal education need to happen at the same time. As far as the advanced sciences, mathematics, etc., I agree that outside help would be necessary in the case of a parent who isn't knowledgeable of those subjects; I would even encourage my high schooler to dual-enroll in intro college courses for these topics if they planned to study them. My husband has mentioned that he always wanted to study advanced science/math in high school and wasn't able to do so (he was also homeschooled), so I do think you're correct in your observation.

 

Yes, I'm in agreement with you on all points here. I also see college courses as a great idea in this area for highschoolers. Like your husband, I always wanted to go into the sciences as a child and was not able to in the end, which was a bit of a blow.

 

And yes, just to reiterate, I don't think school is the only way to socialise a child at all, or necessarily the best one. It is, however, the simplest in many ways, and seeking out alternatives can be difficult and require serious parental time and thought.

 

thanks for your reply :)

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I totally respect your viewpoint, ghostchild, you being the grown up homeschool student and all. But, like any school system, there are variances. "It takes a lot of effort on the part of the parent to make sure the kids have time in big groups, friends to hang out with, etc. Depending on your location, it can be a big challenge. My kids were always super busy in group activities both in the community, church and our homeschool group. So it was never an issue before. Now our community is smaller, less tolerant of non religious types, etc. so it's maxing my creativity at the moment! And, I agree, hiring out the higher end math and sciences makes a lot of sense. We have always done that. One of my older kids did college courses her senior year of high school. We try to bring our kids into the world, not keep them from it. I was the product of the public school system and in every actvity possible. It created in me a desire for busyness, without the ability to make and keep long lasting friends. So, no system is perfect! We all do the best we can with what we've got!

 

 

 

Completely agree with everything here. It's really nice to see homeschooling parents who've really made an effort in this area, in fact. My point was, it's very worrying how often homeschooling parents neglect this area, thinking occasional social outings are enough. I personally am inclined to think that kids need social contact with other children their own age and otherwise, at least several times a week. I could be wrong, and I'll never have a kid of my own to experiment on, but my experience makes me feel that this is gonna be best. I am absolutely sure that parents posting here understand this, I just wanted to highlight the need for it from my own perspective.

 

And no, no system is perfect. I'm certainly not arguing for public school as the perfect or only option. I'd go so far as to say that public school can only work when the parents are actively involved as well, because kids need both social support to learn how to cope with being thrown in the deep end, and they need educational support to maintain a love of learning and to explore the things they personally are interested in that school will not deal with, or to simply explore interesting topics further.

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Hi joD,

 

I'm Carol. I haven't posted here in quite awhile...and didn't post much when I did.

 

I usually say our family eclectic schooled. We didn't completely unschool and didn't school at home; we fell somewhere in the middle. I only have 2 kids. We homeschooled the whole time. Both are in college now.

 

We were involved with a bible-based group that most churches considered a cult. (We exited the group when the kids were 15 and 18; so one was almost finished with highschool by that time). We were non-Trinitarian, so it was an interesting shuffle we found ourselves in. We usually ended up in more secularly-based support groups but also some Christian groups. We never signed a statement of faith. If the group required such...we found another group. We also took the approach of better late than early, which I'm sure you are familiar.

 

All that aside, if you need a hint on organizing a group....

 

...our favorite group (we moved 5 times in 7 years) leaned more toward unschooling and was a mix of all sorts of beliefs and lifestyles. It also was the best organized group. This was before computers were popular, but a similar thing could be organized with a computer. This is how it worked.

 

We had "the black box." hehe

 

In the black box were:

1) self-addressed stamped envelopes that had been given by each homeschooling family that wanted to receive the monthly newsletter

 

2) the list of which families had volunteered for which months

 

3) Previous newsletters (for ideas, etc.)

 

4) A directory and miscellaneous stuff.

 

 

At the beginning of school year we had a simply planning meeting. Two families (usually the Moms) would volunteer to 'take a month' during the school year. Example: another mom "Cindy" and I would sign up for the month of April. That means April was our month...that was it. No more 'duties' (usually) to the group the rest of the year. (Unless we wanted to start some club or something.) The point is, no one burned out!! A volunteer's month would only come around every 1 to 1-1/2 years (...if only my cycle did the same thing!!! :scratch::woohoo: ), depending on the number of families in the group for that year.

 

Every Thursday was a group activity day for those who wanted to participate. So Thursdays were always set aside.

 

Cindy and I would plan/arrange the details/ etc. of what would happen on the April Thursdays.

 

In mid-March or so, Cindy and I would get "the black box." We'd type the April newsletter and that was that. We'd stuff the already labeled and stamped (yay!) envelopes and drop them in the mail.

 

It worked great! Folks also might change their month around a bit; it wasn't set in stone. No one burned out and mostly always enjoyed planning their one month. :grin:

 

Anyway, that's an idea of something one could adapt in organizing a group. I'm sure there are lots of hints online as well.

 

***************

 

You are probably familiar with this site:

http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/Pennsylvania.html

 

If you scroll down, there are a few secular groups listed on the page. If you aren't nearby them, they may have some hints and leads.

 

Good luck!! I'm sure you'll find some folks. *thumbsup*

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Hi joD,

 

I'm Carol. I haven't posted here in quite awhile...and didn't post much when I did.

 

I usually say our family eclectic schooled. We didn't completely unschool and didn't school at home; we fell somewhere in the middle. I only have 2 kids. We homeschooled the whole time. Both are in college now.

 

We were involved with a bible-based group that most churches considered a cult. (We exited the group when the kids were 15 and 18; so one was almost finished with highschool by that time). We were non-Trinitarian, so it was an interesting shuffle we found ourselves in. We usually ended up in more secularly-based support groups but also some Christian groups. We never signed a statement of faith. If the group required such...we found another group. We also took the approach of better late than early, which I'm sure you are familiar.

 

All that aside, if you need a hint on organizing a group....

 

...our favorite group (we moved 5 times in 7 years) leaned more toward unschooling and was a mix of all sorts of beliefs and lifestyles. It also was the best organized group. This was before computers were popular, but a similar thing could be organized with a computer. This is how it worked.

 

We had "the black box." hehe

 

In the black box were:

1) self-addressed stamped envelopes that had been given by each homeschooling family that wanted to receive the monthly newsletter

 

2) the list of which families had volunteered for which months

 

3) Previous newsletters (for ideas, etc.)

 

4) A directory and miscellaneous stuff.

 

 

At the beginning of school year we had a simply planning meeting. Two families (usually the Moms) would volunteer to 'take a month' during the school year. Example: another mom "Cindy" and I would sign up for the month of April. That means April was our month...that was it. No more 'duties' (usually) to the group the rest of the year. (Unless we wanted to start some club or something.) The point is, no one burned out!! A volunteer's month would only come around every 1 to 1-1/2 years (...if only my cycle did the same thing!!! :scratch::woohoo: ), depending on the number of families in the group for that year.

 

Every Thursday was a group activity day for those who wanted to participate. So Thursdays were always set aside.

 

Cindy and I would plan/arrange the details/ etc. of what would happen on the April Thursdays.

 

In mid-March or so, Cindy and I would get "the black box." We'd type the April newsletter and that was that. We'd stuff the already labeled and stamped (yay!) envelopes and drop them in the mail.

 

It worked great! Folks also might change their month around a bit; it wasn't set in stone. No one burned out and mostly always enjoyed planning their one month. :grin:

 

Anyway, that's an idea of something one could adapt in organizing a group. I'm sure there are lots of hints online as well.

 

***************

 

You are probably familiar with this site:

http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/Pennsylvania.html

 

If you scroll down, there are a few secular groups listed on the page. If you aren't nearby them, they may have some hints and leads.

 

Good luck!! I'm sure you'll find some folks. *thumbsup*

 

 

Carol,

Thanks for your post! I appreciate your input and encouragement to start something. I have been involved in homeschooling for as long as I was a christian, about 20 years. (I converted to xtianity shortly after beginning to homeschool my daughter age 5, who is now a college grad, married, in a career, etc.) What has changed for me is my approach to life, hence homeschooling. Like, I was a control freak, and have learned to looosen up. I was paranoid about "the world's influence" now my kids read Twilight and have Harry Potter movie nights. You get the picture. Now it feels like the whole world has opened up to us, and at the same time, many doors are shut tight. It's like unchartered territory. We do have a secular/eclectic group in Pittsburgh, but it is centered around an enrichemnt day that was just out of the budget for us this semester. Next year, my older teen will have graduated and my younger teen may attend a charter school for performing arts. I could then take my 9 year old, much more affordable for one! But in the meantime, maybe I could organize some activites or field trips inviting the members of this group (I'm on their yahoo group which is open to everyone). I like the organizational approach you took for your group, lots of networking, sharing the load, etc. Sounds good to me!

 

I'm interested in your testimony. Did you post it on here? Mine is listed on the link on my signature. I posted last week. Somehow, going public made it feel more official!

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I'm interested in your testimony. Did you post it on here? Mine is listed on the link on my signature. I posted last week. Somehow, going public made it feel more official!

 

Hi again joD...

 

I did post part of my story here:

http://www.ex-christian.net/index.php?show...c=21033&hl=

 

Of course much has changed since I posted that and updated it.

 

You can read more at my personal blog that's linked in my sig. (My blog needs a lot of work, which I do want to eventually get around to.)

 

The updated (and much longer! eek!!!) version of my story is in a link on the right side on that blog. :-)

 

I agree that going public has a personal impact. It's been therapeutic for me..and also scary. It's much less scary now, though the fear still creeps up from time to time.

 

I tried to copy and paste the link in your sig, but I had some trouble and couldn't find your story. I searched your posts, and couldn't find it either. And my computer tells me I have an error when I try to accept the Friend thingee. (Me and my computer dumbness. *rolleyes*)

 

I'd like to read your story though. Can you post another link to it in the body of a post...or send it to me via PM. :-)

 

 

 

Look forward to it!!

 

Cheers,

Carol

 

*****************

 

PS: Rereading what I posted about homeschooling, I want to clarify something. When I stated we were in a bible-base fundamentalist group; I didn't mean a homeschooling bible-based fundie group...but rather the religious group we were with, The Way International, is a bible-based fundie group. I saw in your profile that you were with The Mormons, so I think you'd get what I mean. We were in a 'cult' according to other Christian churches. (Now I probably just confused you more! lol )

 

In response to your 'control' tendency: the other word I used to our homeschooling approach? The pendulum approach: Lots of structure...no structure. hehe We finally landed somewhere in the middle, I think. :-o

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I was publically school educated and I don't think it did anything for my social skills. In public school you will learn to ridicule other kids for not wearing the proper fashionable clothing. Heck, I was the victim of some very anti-social behavior in public school. I'm talking sexual assult and harassment. And I was just 11 years old, too imature to know how to deal with such behavior. A guy I work with who just recently graduated told me he constantly worried about being beaten up. Unfortunately, the school can't do anything about the situation until the actual beating takes place. We know that school busses nowadays have on board cameras, and many school officials want to put cameras in every classroom. This tells me that the classroom setting is not this great learning envirnment for social skills.

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Eh, I was dishing it out just as much as I was taking it, back in the day. We were rotten little bastards we were. It's difficult for some of us to realize how brutal and frightening public school can be for many other kids.

 

For the record, I loathed it (though for different reasons) and was a terrible student lumped in with the juvenile delinquents and retarded kids, up until I jumped to junior college. This was partly because the local schools were shit and they let kids that needed help fall through the cracks. I have since picked myself up by my own bootstraps, but many others didn't, and lord knows what could have been.

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I was homeschooled nearly my entire life until this year (except for a year in public school in 5th grade). I really think it depends on the child. Some kids thrive in public school and would hate being homeschooled; others are the complete opposite.

 

I hated homeschooling, mainly because I'm an extremely social person. I did classes and all sorts of group activites--but it wasn't enough. However, I hated public school in 5th grade. Kids were compelte idiots, so many cliques and popularity things (like RubyHyatia said wearing the right clothes...). Now, 6 years later, I LOVE school. Its great to have a mix of teachers to learn from (not just fundy parents, ha), and other students to discuss things with. I think homeschooling makes it way to easy for christians to completely brainwash their children from ever thinking for themselves. But there are some great benefits.

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I was homeschooled nearly my entire life until this year (except for a year in public school in 5th grade). I really think it depends on the child. Some kids thrive in public school and would hate being homeschooled; others are the complete opposite.

 

I hated homeschooling, mainly because I'm an extremely social person. I did classes and all sorts of group activites--but it wasn't enough. However, I hated public school in 5th grade. Kids were compelte idiots, so many cliques and popularity things (like RubyHyatia said wearing the right clothes...). Now, 6 years later, I LOVE school. Its great to have a mix of teachers to learn from (not just fundy parents, ha), and other students to discuss things with. I think homeschooling makes it way to easy for christians to completely brainwash their children from ever thinking for themselves. But there are some great benefits.

 

 

Emma Rose,

Thanks for your comments! I'm glad to hear that you are learning to think for yourself at your age, instead of getting in to your 40's and going, "Hey, what have I been believing all my life?" Anyway, I think you have a good point about the brainwashing thing. I think my older kids at least were able to separate out from my very conservative teaching when they went on to college, etc. My younger kids have the benefit of my deconversion, and we are using the world as our classroom, without the conservative sensoring! What a difference. You are also right on about the social aspects. Different kids/situations/ages/other variables. It's very personal. One thing I think is important is for parents to see their children as individuals, and not just "this is what we do" without any thought towards the needs of each child.

I have to say, I regret the earlyl years of fundy conservative thinking that dominated my life, and ultimately my childrens as well.

Welcome to the discussion!

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Guest LouiseLane

I was homeschooled from 5th grade through highschool by Christian parents. There were good and bad things about it. My mother was very dedicated and spent every summer reading through all of our text books to make sure that she new the material we'd be learning. She was more involved in the early years, and I pretty much taught myself in highschool which only took me three years. I was very interested in math and science and the fact that my mom was not a whiz in those things did not stop me from branching out on my own to study what interested me. But I was very motivated. My brother had a completely different experience. As it turned out, he was not as self-motivated as I was and he learned better when he had the healthy competition that being around his peers provided. He was placed in the private boy's school that a man in our church ran (very old fashioned school, they wore suits and ties). He thrived once placed there, in spite of the strictness and difficulty. We were siblings but we had very different experiences.

 

As for a social education, there were good and bad things about that too. I have always been shy and I was quite a pushover when I was in public school. Being homeschooled gave me the confidence I needed to develop a backbone. We got our socialization by joining local religious homeschooling groups and through our church youth group. But on the other hand, when I got my first job, I was very awkward socially and didn't know how to relate to non-Christian people. That became part of my on-the-job training. :)

 

The other thing is that I grew up completely emersed in Christianity and it was only in the past few years (I'm 28) that I even began to question the validity of my world view. It has only been in the past few months that I have completely let it go. It has been an amazingly freeing experience. It has also been painful because of family. It was only this morning that my brother informed me that I was not welcome in his home or around his wife and soon-to-be-born baby because I am following the doctrines of demons and by inviting me into his home he would be inviting Satan. My parents are a little less extreme but still not accepting.

 

So I think homeschooling was mostly a good thing for both my brother and me. I guess you have to weigh the pros and cons. I will probably homeschool my son for at least the first few years to give him a good foundation. We will take it one year at a time.

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It was only this morning that my brother informed me that I was not welcome in his home or around his wife and soon-to-be-born baby because I am following the doctrines of demons and by inviting me into his home he would be inviting Satan. My parents are a little less extreme but still not accepting.

 

Wow, that shit just ain't right. You have my full sympathies. :(

 

"I come to divide, brother against brother" indeed. :(

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Louise,

I am sorry to hear of your brother's reaction. It is unfortunate, but not uncommon. Give it time. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and let you back in their lives. Thanks for your input on homeschooling. I love hearing the experiences of adults who were once homeschooled.

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Guest LouiseLane

Thanks for the sympathies. :) It would have been more painful if my husband and I hadn't gone through this together. The good thing is that his parents have been amazing, very accepting and loving. It helps to offset the bile coming from my family. It is hard to talk to them at all because they have scripture to back up every unloving thing they do and, of course, they view the bible as infallible.

 

Finding this forum has helped because I see how so many people have gone through the same things that I am.

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