Let me present my counter-tale to all the anti-home school comments.
My kid is autistic and the schools are some of the most poorly funded in the country. Despite this the school did an excellent job and had very good staff that did a very good job. But as my child went up in grades the resources available decreased. It was quickly heading for a point where the 1-on-1 time they would need wouldn’t be available. Then the pandemic hit. We were forced into online school when the school closed for a bit. The amount of specialist time available dropped to near-zero.
The school wasn’t prepared for online school and the sites/curriculum they used were all over the place. We supplemented with our own field trips and additional resources. But they otherwise took to it really well and were still learning.
The next school year our school still didn’t have its act together. We found a different online school that actually had good curriculum. They’ve been going to that ever since and it’s gone really well.
BIG CAVEATS: I used to be a public school teacher. My degrees are in that, and I was certified. I work in a different field now, but I still have that background to know adolescent psychology, how to evaluate curriculum, knowledge of what is grade-level appropriate, etc. My partner specialized in language and writing, while I was science, math, and tech. We take great pains to socialize our child with outside activities, and make sure they read and participate in art/creative activities. My partner is stay-at-home with the primary job of seeing to our child’s education. I help but assist in my areas of expertise.
TLDR; Home school IS used as a way for a lot of parents to enable hyper-religious or abusive behavior, but that’s not universal. In some cases it can be the best solution for the child.
And you provided the evidence that home schooling is not appropriate for 99% of the families out there. How many other families have the education, background, and resources that you bring to the table? Virtually none. And it’s only made worse by the fact that there are no standards, no testing required, no checks on the child’s welfare.
To me, all of your arguments just point out faults in the education system. I know you can’t change the system all on your own and I think you’ve made the right decision for your family. I just feel like all the arguments I’ve read on this post in support of home schooling aren’t the best solution for students, they’re just workarounds for the deficiencies of our schools.
My child is also autistic, and my local school board was a nightmare. My kid is taking the GED this week, so we are thankfully at the end of that nightmare.
Former Autistic Child here, now Autistic Adult. My public school years were the absolute worst. I had a 504 Plan and despite that, everyone ignored it except for me being able to leave class 5 minutes early to skip the passing time and get to class early. After looking into college, there was a specific guy I got to talk to for accommodations and everything was MUCH better. Recently dropped out with the hope to go into Aviation Maintenance, though I’m still waiting for approval.
Would you say that a parent’s ability to successfully homeschool is largely impacted by the resources available to that parent from their state and other governmental bodies?
I’m curious because of another comment on a different post from a parent in Florida who said their homeschooling curriculum and resources are really god and well charted/planned out.
I would say it is largely impacted by available resources, but not necessarily limited to government. Some locations have great non-profit organizations dedicated to exactly this sort of thing. I’d say a lot of places have those sorts of resources, but often are hard to find.
Let me present my counter-tale to all the anti-home school comments.
My kid is autistic and the schools are some of the most poorly funded in the country. Despite this the school did an excellent job and had very good staff that did a very good job. But as my child went up in grades the resources available decreased. It was quickly heading for a point where the 1-on-1 time they would need wouldn’t be available. Then the pandemic hit. We were forced into online school when the school closed for a bit. The amount of specialist time available dropped to near-zero.
The school wasn’t prepared for online school and the sites/curriculum they used were all over the place. We supplemented with our own field trips and additional resources. But they otherwise took to it really well and were still learning.
The next school year our school still didn’t have its act together. We found a different online school that actually had good curriculum. They’ve been going to that ever since and it’s gone really well.
BIG CAVEATS: I used to be a public school teacher. My degrees are in that, and I was certified. I work in a different field now, but I still have that background to know adolescent psychology, how to evaluate curriculum, knowledge of what is grade-level appropriate, etc. My partner specialized in language and writing, while I was science, math, and tech. We take great pains to socialize our child with outside activities, and make sure they read and participate in art/creative activities. My partner is stay-at-home with the primary job of seeing to our child’s education. I help but assist in my areas of expertise.
TLDR; Home school IS used as a way for a lot of parents to enable hyper-religious or abusive behavior, but that’s not universal. In some cases it can be the best solution for the child.
And you provided the evidence that home schooling is not appropriate for 99% of the families out there. How many other families have the education, background, and resources that you bring to the table? Virtually none. And it’s only made worse by the fact that there are no standards, no testing required, no checks on the child’s welfare.
Agree that child welfare checks should be a thing. Our state does have testing requirements, but no curriculum standards.
To me, all of your arguments just point out faults in the education system. I know you can’t change the system all on your own and I think you’ve made the right decision for your family. I just feel like all the arguments I’ve read on this post in support of home schooling aren’t the best solution for students, they’re just workarounds for the deficiencies of our schools.
My child is also autistic, and my local school board was a nightmare. My kid is taking the GED this week, so we are thankfully at the end of that nightmare.
Former Autistic Child here, now Autistic Adult. My public school years were the absolute worst. I had a 504 Plan and despite that, everyone ignored it except for me being able to leave class 5 minutes early to skip the passing time and get to class early. After looking into college, there was a specific guy I got to talk to for accommodations and everything was MUCH better. Recently dropped out with the hope to go into Aviation Maintenance, though I’m still waiting for approval.
Fingers crossed for you!
Thank you!!
Would you say that a parent’s ability to successfully homeschool is largely impacted by the resources available to that parent from their state and other governmental bodies?
I’m curious because of another comment on a different post from a parent in Florida who said their homeschooling curriculum and resources are really god and well charted/planned out.
I would say it is largely impacted by available resources, but not necessarily limited to government. Some locations have great non-profit organizations dedicated to exactly this sort of thing. I’d say a lot of places have those sorts of resources, but often are hard to find.