Post by Why-me... on Jun 5, 2016 17:48:25 GMT -6
I was homeschooled K through 12... And I regret every moment. But what I hate the most, is how as a naive young child I was so easily draw into it. Never once did I question, "Perhaps public school isn't as bad as I've been told? Maybe I should try it for a year?" No, I was lulled in by this false sense of superiority. "Public schoolers are stupid, their math programs are terrible and they can't add 2+2, you're way ahead of all the other kids your age, etc." It was all a lie.
Well, it wasn't all a lie. I truly was ahead of other kids my age, from about grades 1 - 7. I was learning multiplication, division, algebra, way before any of my equal aged friends were. I remember actually teaching them math fairly regularly. But it's easy to teach such simple things, as soon as highschool came, and the long 12 year burn of homeschooling was nearing an end, things really started to slow down. My mathematics education began to stagnate and slow, teaching myself nearly entirely. Concepts I couldn't understand at first reading would often be skipped as I had nobody to guide me, to explain to me. This worsened and worsened to the point where I had only gotten half way through Pre-calculus by the time I finished grade twelve. Where my friends who I used to tutor in earlier grades have completed AP Calculus or even AP Calculus 2.
What do I have to show for my twelve years of social isolation and depression? A sub par education, virtually no social skills (my parents could never afford any extra curriculars), and a difficult time getting into any university. Even the local community college. Many deny me instantly as I have no accredited highschool diploma, or really anything to show for the last 1.2 decades of my life.
Parents, just heed my and the numerous other homeschoolers warnings on this forum, don't do it. Some homeschoolers end up perfectly fine, but a very very significant amount of us don't. And the risk vs reward analysis isn't even particularly favorable. If you homeschool your children well and do your best to socialize them, at best you have a slightly more well educated public schooler (who's probably a bit awkward). Just don't do it.
Well, it wasn't all a lie. I truly was ahead of other kids my age, from about grades 1 - 7. I was learning multiplication, division, algebra, way before any of my equal aged friends were. I remember actually teaching them math fairly regularly. But it's easy to teach such simple things, as soon as highschool came, and the long 12 year burn of homeschooling was nearing an end, things really started to slow down. My mathematics education began to stagnate and slow, teaching myself nearly entirely. Concepts I couldn't understand at first reading would often be skipped as I had nobody to guide me, to explain to me. This worsened and worsened to the point where I had only gotten half way through Pre-calculus by the time I finished grade twelve. Where my friends who I used to tutor in earlier grades have completed AP Calculus or even AP Calculus 2.
What do I have to show for my twelve years of social isolation and depression? A sub par education, virtually no social skills (my parents could never afford any extra curriculars), and a difficult time getting into any university. Even the local community college. Many deny me instantly as I have no accredited highschool diploma, or really anything to show for the last 1.2 decades of my life.
Parents, just heed my and the numerous other homeschoolers warnings on this forum, don't do it. Some homeschoolers end up perfectly fine, but a very very significant amount of us don't. And the risk vs reward analysis isn't even particularly favorable. If you homeschool your children well and do your best to socialize them, at best you have a slightly more well educated public schooler (who's probably a bit awkward). Just don't do it.