Had an issue with my well and had the well service come and fix it. He (the owner) was out once before for a different problem. Anyway both times his young son, now maybe 10-11 was with him as a helper. This time I asked if there was no school today and the guy said "we home school him, his mom teaches him with books and I teach him the well business."

At first I wondered what all the boy is not going to learn but the more I thought about it he's probably learning quite a lot. At this point he's mostly fetching things from the truck, handing tools, stripping wires, loosening and tightening screws removing covers, cleaning contacts, etc, but that's more than most boys that age can do. Given how fast youngsters absorb knowledge, in another 6-7 years he'll probably know most everything his dad does about drilling wells, pumps, pressure tanks, plumbing, electrical, and running a well business. And even more important a work ethic.

I have yet to meet a home schooled kid that was behind academically. Most seem to be ahead of the curve. Good for the well guy and anyone else that homeschools, my wife and I weren’t blessed with that talent.

Sounds like the best of both worlds. Practical, hands on training during the day and book schooling later on. I think he'll go far.

Yeah when they were here a year or so ago he was only handing tools, holding the light, cleaning up, etc. Now he's actually doing little things and his dad seems very patient with him, a good teacher.

Remined me of the meme....

Kids are freaking sponges. In addition to all the other things listed above, the child is learning how to work with people, how to handle customers on good days and bad, how to serve people with integrity, etc.

Good for that family!

I love the "behind in academics" thing, my daughter has been homeschooled for the last 8 years, she got her acceptance to MIT's astrophysics program last week. I think she's going to be ok.

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:
I love the "behind in academics" thing ...

Same here. I remember colleagues at work "warning" me about what a disservice I was doing my kids by homeschooling them. I'd like to check in with those folks now.

My oldest is a financial analyst working for an investment firm.

Next son is VP and Gen Counsel for the American subsidiary of an international corporation.

Third son is a Major in the Army.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
he's probably learning quite a lot

No doubt about it. Kudos to the parents.

Every homeschooled kid I've met thus far has been ahead of the curve and I have met quite a few.

One of the other things that I've noticed is that most all of them were very well mannered and respectful. I coached quite a few in soccer and they were all a joy to coach. The parents were pretty squared away as well...go figure.

My wife is a retired public school teacher, and she wasn’t happy with the level of homeschooled children and children previously attending church schools. She said they weren’t taught many subjects, lacked socialization, and their test scores were almost always lower than the PS kids.

We live in the Texas Hill Country, and we see homeschooling to be way more prevalent. My wife, half-jokingly, points out those she believes are/have been homeschooled.

As for me, I’m for homeschooling and private schools due to ultra liberal teacher unions and all of the other crappe which is being pushed on our youth.

We need doctors, engineers, and all of the rest of the high level work force, and it may be probable that most of those arising to those levels are from PSs. I haven’t seen the data, but I wouldn’t doubt this from what my wife had experienced.

My only answer is a school voucher system like they passed here in Texas recently. It is horribly sad we have to import so many foreign workers to fill spots ‘Mericans can’t fill.

As with most things, there's a right way and a wrong way to do homeschooling.

As someone who has worked juvenile-related crimes the majority of my LE career, I've seen homeschooling done wrong plenty of times. Partly due to the homeschooling rules/laws in my state being quite lax, so there are lots of shitbag parents who "homeschool" their kids but actually don't do any true schooling, including those who "homeschool" their kids mostly in order to prevent their physical/sexual abuse from being discovered.

I've also encountered plenty of homeschooled kids who are starved for socialization and interaction with peers their own age.

And a not insignificant proportion of the juvenile sex offenders who perpetrate on siblings that I've dealt with have been homeschooled kids.

But at the same time, I've known plenty of homeschooled people who were smarter than the average bear, and went on to do great things. And lots of parents who did homeschooling right, with a robust formal academic curriculum and things like homeschool networks for social group activities and getting their kids involved in city/club sports leagues.

So it's not a binary "homeschooling is good"/"homeschooling is bad".

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:
I love the "behind in academics" thing, my daughter has been homeschooled for the last 8 years, she got her acceptance to MIT's astrophysics program last week. I think she's going to be ok.

That’s awesome! Like I said, most of the home schooled kids I’ve met were fairly advanced, but not that advanced. .

A colleague of mine and his wife have five kids -- he's a frickin' genius, and she's no slouch. They homeschool the kids, and from where I sit the results look mighty good.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:
I love the "behind in academics" thing ...

Same here. I remember colleagues at work "warning" me about what a disservice I was doing my kids by homeschooling them. I'd like to check in with those folks now.

My oldest is a financial analyst working for an investment firm.

Next son is VP and Gen Counsel for the American subsidiary of an international corporation.

Third son is a Major in the Army.

Well I guess that'll teach you a sharp lesson.

My three children were home schooled for several years.

My oldest has 2 BS, 2 MS, and a PHD, all in six years. She was the valedictorian of the department of chemistry and biochemistry as well as food science for her dual undergraduate degrees.

My middle daughter finished her BS and MS in four years on a full academic/athletic scholarship. She was a D1 swimmer and was nationally and world ranked. Competed in US Olympic trials as well as SEC and National Championship every year.

My son, youngest, had a full scholarship and completed is BS in CIS. He is currently a captain in the US Army and a company commander.

My children have far exceeded me.

Homeschooling is all what you as parents put into it with your children. Public schools are the same.

We knew some really strange home school families, same with public and private school families.

I know a lot of homeschooled families and it all depends on the parents. Most are probably ahead of public schools but I have seen some that are behind.

Homeschooling gives so much flexibility to learn. One Homeschool co-op by me taught forensics over summer. I would have loved that when I was young and in high school.

My daughter graduated high school with her associates. If I did it again she would graduate at 17 with her bachelor’s.

Good to hear the great testimonials. No doubt some home schooled kids will be "under educated" compared to PS students, but the reverse is the case as well. There are some pretty poor public schools out there.

quote:

Homeschooling is all what you as parents put into it with your children. Public schools are the same.

^^^This^^^

Also the mention of socialization above.

I was not home schooled, but private schooled. A military school for 2nd grade. Five days a week 30 miles from home. All alone. 3rd-6th grade a church school 2-3 miles from home. Five total years with no neighborhood connections. I am affected to this day at 76 y.o.

We will be homeschooling. The main difference is, as far as I can, my children will not be as exposed to the degenerate monsters which the PS system is built to protect.

I realize there may still be monsters, but they will not be protected by the system. Nor will they be conditioned to be oppressed/bored.

It’s a failed system, staffed by failures, designed to produce failures, and meant to encourage failure. (AKA, like all other socialist systems.)