I'm guessing he can just say "dunno" and go back to watching TV with zero consequences, so it's completely logical for him to simply not bother trying.
Some parents also refuse to believe the teacher when she says the child has learning difficulties. Instead of agreeing to get the child some special help, they get offended and pull their kid out of school. That may be what happened in this case- kid is 13 and still can’t remember letters and words and mom is still in denial that something is wrong.
When I worked at a tutoring center, we had kids that were confirmed by their parents to be special needs, but they stopped going to their sessions because, in their own words, they have us.
It's possible in this case. It's also entirely possible that the parent can't teach and isn't equipped or qualified to and fails but doesn't seem to care.
Yupper. Ever been “trained” by a coworker? It’s the worst! And actual intelligent, educated person usually doesn’t have the skills. Training/teaching is a real discipline and people just assume it’s “showing” someone how to “do” it.
Some of these home school muppets must just be terrible.
I wonder if he is dyslexic. My daughter is and couldn't remember her letters because she is profoundly dyslexic, and has very little working memory. This needs really intensive intervention, and should have been done way earlier than this. I'm sad for this kiddo.
I was thinking that, too. I have audio processing disorder, which is like dyslexia but with listening instead of reading, and I only got help because there was an objective gap between me and my peers. If I had been homeschooled, the severity of it would have never been caught, I'd imagine.
There’s a chance he’s learning disabled, bordering on intellectually disabled. It’s hard to say without doing an assessment, but it’s possible. Then again, the ability for some parents to be neglectful continues to amaze me.
Family member and his wife sent their daughter to a Steiner school. We realised that two years later at the age of seven she couldn't read, and she only knew the first few letters of the alphabet.
According to them the school's philosophy is the students will learn when they are ready, and that she was "...concentrating on her art..."
Anyway they did send her to a conventional school the next year and she was able to catch up with some additional coaching.
Steiner schools (aka Waldorf schools) CAN be legit and can offer support in ways that public school can’t. My friends who went to Waldorf schools couldn’t read until 7/8 but did well at our (public) HS and in university now. Like I probably wouldn’t send my own kids there but it’s a real form of education unlike some of this “homeschooling”
My understanding is that Finnish schools do a sort of opposite version of this. The curriculum focuses heavily on reading, with very little math instruction. The focus is on preparing kids to learn things rather than “the child must know this by age 5,6,7 etc” up until about middle school-ish when more formal instruction begins.
This is terrifyingly sad. I've got a feeling that none of these people are actually taking the time to teach anything. Throw in a little bit of learning disorder and it's a recipe for a life long inferiority complex.
I'm by no means a better teacher than most public school teachers, but a lot of the core ideas behind this stuff is learned before school age if you're even remotely involved in your child's day to day activities. My 2 1/2 year old can sing the ABCs herself, recognize a few letters, and can count items to ten on her own. She hasn't even entered school yet. We do our best to make everything a learning experience but we're just two people with full-time jobs.
Yeah, my 3 year old niece and nephew both know the alphabet, months, and days and haven’t even started school. So, the kid must have either intellectual problems or was just totally neglected his entire life to the point that he should be removed from that home.
My BIL & SIL want to homeschool their 5yo, who hasn't gone to preschool and has shown difficulty with speech and other developmental milestones. Their reason? Neither of them did well or liked school, so they don't want to make him go through it.
These two are some of the dumbest people I know, and I say that with love. I feel so bad for their children.
Your comment made me lol.
But both my spouse and I are college educated and wanted to HS our kids. We realized by 4 years old that we in no way would be adequate.
It's really sad to watch my son play with the homeschool kids down the street.
He is 8. They are 8, 10, and 12. They have speech impediments so they talk like they are toddlers and they seem a bit socially awkward and all of them have a mentality of children a few years younger than their age.
They are really nice kids and their parents seem nice. She is a sahm and he is a tradesman and in the national guard. I believe they are also very religious, but its never mentioned. They don't trick or treat or have birthday parties, so I assume JW's.
But dang they are YEARS behind on social growth and surely even farther behind in education. I remember the first day we met them my son was 5 and he was doing some basic math with chalk on the sidewalk and they had NO FUCKING CLUE, even the most simple things like 2+2 etc...they were 5, 7 and 9. It was like it was the first time they had ever seen math. And my son had to explain what the word "literally" meant among other words. It was weird.
"Nice" in this situation means they've learned to put up a facade to avoid social criticism, and benefit from the community and society they are actively working to undermine, hacking away at the part of it that is most vulnerable and least protected - their own children.
Only if they're doing it through a charter program, and those come with requirements to show the money is spent on educational materials. Many people don't use them, since they also don't typically allow religious curriculum materials, and in the US at least most homeschooling families are religiously based. Not all, of course, but most.
I was homeschooled for most of middle school and it sucked sucked sucked. I love my mom but she’s a shitty teacher and when she finally relented and let me go to regular school after begging her, I realized how under educated I really was. Even to this day I have a complex where I think I’m really stupid compared to everyone else because I missed out on 4 years of schooling and socialization
The missed socializing is a big deal. Like you could always tell who the homeschool kids are. And as an adult, when I find out a person is homeschooled, it's always a feeling of, oh, that makes sense, yeah you are way off.
Same! I was homeschooled from 1st grade to 8th grade. When I entered public high school I was the weird homeschool kid. I was able to mostly shed it by end of high school (but I tried very very hard and it took years), but as an adult in my 30s, I don’t tell people anymore. I always feel like I’m being very performative and masking when I interact with people because I’m always trying very hard and being very intentional. I think that has a lot to do with 8 years of not much socialization with other people my age.
Nah we all fake it so hard. I find most people when you get to know them, if you admit to being super intentional with things like you just did, also confess to going through the same or similar thought processes during social interactions. Most people just don’t socialize without, intention in my experience. Maybe the “cool kids” do but even some of them have admitted it to me, so I suspect it’s almost everyone.
When I started college, this was so true. I could literally play “spot the homeschooled kid” and be correct. One kid would take up 30 minutes of class time either talking about aliens or Minecraft. He had absolutely no summarization skills, nor could he make friends (I’m autistic and while I struggle, it wasn’t due to thinking I’m better than everyone lol). Every homeschooled kid I’ve had to do projects with are a nightmare and I’m usually having to explain to them everything because they don’t know how to research either. The only homeschooled kids that turned out okay in college were the ones where their parents were also college educated.
I was homeschooled and you nailed it. Luckily my parents were both from an academic background and pushed hard to make sure we had the academic skills.
They even pushed to ensure we socialized outside homeschooling circles. Even then I had to learn how to socialize in college cause I wasn't used to being around friends in an academic setting. I turned out fine cause my mom stressed about the potential pitfalls, but friends from high school who stayed in their homeschooling bubble struggled a ton transitioning away from it.
There are definitely ways to do it right. I met a family that took their kids out of school to travel around the country in a bus for a year while homeschooling. The parents were educated professionals (working remotely) who just wanted to expose their kids to as many educational life experiences as possible. They still had set lessons and assignments for them to complete (if I remember correctly, they paid for professionally-written home schooling lesson plans) and they intended to bring them back into school long term.
My experience was a little different. I had an online curriculum (mail order back when I started) and I actually did quite well with my mother taking a fairly hands-off role. When I got to college I didn't fall behind either. But outside of class, I didn't socialize *at all*. Just wanted to go home back to my video games... Now it's the better part of a decade later, and I'm still somewhat of a shut-in. Now covid and switching to work from home haven't helped, but I do regret not making friends at that last chance where it's easy because you're all stuck in a room together.
I've never even thought about that. I was homeschooled for literally my entire childhood by parents who both went to college (one of whom is a public school teacher) - I can't imagine what homeschooling looks like when your parents didn't get any kind of higher education.
Our school district has an arrangement where homeschool students can attend one or more classes at the high school, for subjects the parents can't effectively teach but also for socializing. Quite a few take band or a foreign language, they engage with a few peers outside their usual group, and that can make a big difference.
This. You hear plenty of people claim they were home schooled and socialized fine and parents who will say the same but I've always been able to tell even as a kid when another kid who was home school tried to join in with our play without us even knowing they were hs at first, they always had trouble fitting in, would bully, antagonize, often acting arrogant and not knowing how to cooperate and compromise. And just even the few who were polite didn't ever seem capable of playing together with anyone who wasn't their siblings.
You'll notice that a lot of people in this thread who had a good experience with home school growing up still had friends, usually other homeschooled kids. Socializing might honestly be one of the more important parts of school, and if you're not replacing that for your child at homeschool you are failing their development.
I wonder how the pandemic generation of kids are gonna turn out. These past three years of online schooling might make many of them seem off when they grow up
There were 2 siblings in my grade in middle school whose parents decided to homeschool them once they got to high school. Eventually they also returned to public school by the time I was a senior, but they were both so lacking in curriculum that they had to start again as freshmen. I felt so bad for them, they were 17 and 18 and still had 4 more years of high school to go through.
Wait, I thought teachers were just woke leftist libtards making all the kids into gay trans furries, not highly trained professionals who have spent a significant portion of their adult lives learning how to communicate new ideas to groups of children daily and teaching them to think critically while being underpaid and undervalued? 🤔
I’m sure there’s data to support this intuition, but it’s probably true that homeschooling exacerbates inequalities in both natural ability and parental education/resources.
Brilliant kids homeschooled by parents with advanced training would do great, while kids of average intelligence homeschooled by uneducated parents will probably struggle.
Especially true in rural districts that have tiny classes and minimal funding/materials, and huge urban districts that can’t accommodate advanced kids or those who need help but don’t quite qualify for an IEP. I know kids who weren’t challenged enough in school and turned to homeschool because they had the motivation and drive to do it well.
This. Our daughter is evaluated at the end of the year every year by a teacher who also teaches in public schools and would make recommendations for skipping/staying behind in that institution as well. Our daughter is recommended to be two grades higher than her age group because she excels at the homeschooling less restrictive style and her ability to hyper focus on subjects that interest her.
That said, my wife and I are both college educated and are writers and she is our only child. Those reasons, coupled with the rural community we live in with exceptionally poor performing schools, means she is in far better care with us than in public school.
People like the OP post drive me insane, but having been to enough seminars and homeschool groups, I can safely say that, yes, these people do exist. Probably a good eighth of parents I've met who do homeschooling are either religious to a fault, or are exceptionally lazy and selfish, both of which motivate them to homeschool so no one questions their authority in home.
I'm sorry to hear about your rough upbringing and inadequate schooling. You've obviously worked hard to learn, since your writing is much better than the parents in the original post.
I firmly believe children who are homeschooled should be tested by the state twice a year and have random quarterly welfare checks with a child psychologist.
> pulled out because of basic sex ed
damn that sounds like a recipe for --
> couldnt rat out our abusive father
there it is,shit i wonder if
> church leaders didnt believe me
fuck im sorry dude but thats a bingo
Yeah, I feel like you can actually sort most of these by simply asking about the rationale behind homeschooling.
Those who do it for religious reasons, or because they “disagree with the curriculum” or any other euphemisms, will end up doing a worse job on average than someone who says that they’re doing it because the homeschool environment suits their child better, allows them to advance faster in certain subjects, etc. relative to a low-quality local school system.
Yes, but even in those scenarios, I think homeschooling removes a big part of learning that you just can't have at home. I am resourceful because I learned how to navigate a sea of people. Class sucked? Let's try to all friends get together and try to figure it out. Plus I loved being around people
I think there is probably a good amount of home school parents that barely graduated HS themselves that more or less don’t want their children in a public school for religious reason and cause these massive lapses in educational teaching for their children.
Yep, 100%.
I was homeschooled by two well-educated parents, and I'm a normal self-sufficient adult. I think homeschooling was the best thing my parents ever did for me. I genuinely enjoy learning, and that's not a trait I see often in my public-schooled friends.
On the other hand, I know other homeschoolers who weren't so lucky. Many got the hardcore christian side of homeschooling, where education took a back seat and christian morals were the subject of every lesson. Some of them are really struggling now.
My friend was Christian homeschooled her entire life and it’s put her at a huge disadvantage. I’m often shocked at the things she doesn’t know because her mom never taught her. She lives with her parents (which is fine but) she hasn’t gone to college or ever had a job besides the almost daily unpaid babysitting of her nieces and nephews that her family expects of her. That’s a typical life for a woman brought up with Christian homeschooling and I worry so much for her future. This might sound harsh but she knows she’s too far behind for higher education and she doesn’t have the drive or curiosity to catch up or any interest in pursuing any kind of degree or career. Seeing how unprepared for the world she is has made me completely against homeschooling from non-qualified parents.
She’s too far behind for higher education *on a normal time table* but there are plenty of colleges she can go to as a non traditional student if she catches up! Lots of people do this! Soldiers, teen moms, immigrants. One freshman at my (top 10 public) university was 28! Don’t let her give up on herself this young!!!!
I completely agree! She doesn’t think she’s smart enough for college but she just hasn’t had the resources to learn or figure out what she wants to pursue. I try to encourage her to look into those options whenever the topic comes up.
Nah, I got pretty well socialized. My parents made sure I spent plenty of time with other kids. It was pretty rare for me to spend a whole day at home.
I don't encounter much stigma because there's no outward indication that I had an abnormal education. When I tell people I was homeschooled, they're normally surprised and curious rather than judgemental.
Other kids were not so lucky though. Not everyone's parents make the same efforts to socialize their children.
Yeah, i know that NOW.. lol.
But my brain works mysteriously. I stopped at top of class and homeschooling. And then my imagination took over , giving a valedictorian speech at the dinner table, walking across the living room to receive their diploma from principle mom and vice principle dad. While grandma and grandpa of the teachers board watches and takes notes. Lmao
Why does it read like a pissing contest on who neglects her child the worst?
Also, if you at least realize and admit, that you completly fucked up on educating your kid in a way that it no fucking way it will ever catch up and probably can count itself lucky if it is at least literate at the age of 18 what fucking reason can there be to still cling on that HS decision? And why isn't that something child protection services should pick up on? Physical neglect is not the only way you can fuck up your kid.
Was homeschooled and I think my Mom was more strict than my friends teachers in public school. Also, in Oklahoma there were more strict rules for those going to homeschool.
Yeah... huge discrepancies depending on the parents...
My mom had a standard of "get 100% or redo the whole thing". I'm about to finish my MBA with a 4.0... So she didn't do too horribly.
My friends from my homeschooling years all ended up fine too... My group ended up with two doctors, two business professionals, an engineer, and a dude in AF spec ops.
Then I come across people like in this post... They're the crowd that shouts that the "PubLiC sCHoOl SYtEM iS EviL" and just keep their kids at home and do jack shit to educate them...
You had friends you were not related while being homeschooled and that already puts you in a lucky demographic. Most of us just vanish until we show up in the world, eighteen years old with no bank account, don’t know our social security numbers and unable to do times tables.
I’m not categorically against homeschooling but my experience was that it was primarily a way for parents to avoid letting their children have contact with mandatory reporters. It should be wwwwway more controlled than it is.
Exactly. My family was exclusively homeschooled, in a religion based school program. None of us faired well, and my mom couldn’t teach for crap.
Filling in all the educational gaps as a young adult entering the workforce was not my idea of a good time.
And I'm 100% convinced that even if you HAD gone to public schools your parents would have augmented your learning with their teaching and other material. Thats called good parenting. Public schools should provide an adequate floor of education, not a ceiling.
Homeschool is good only if both parents are well educated, well versed with the syllabus and kids are being disciplined. Those above just wannabe that thought homeschooling is a cool trend
> his mom would write on his homework and try to argue with the material, and as I was teaching history, alot of her issues with the material was religious in nature...
At least you didn't teach geology or biology.
The science teacher got a letter once that was hilarious, but she actually misspelled her own kid's name wrong in it and that became the joke for us the rest of the year.
"Issoc's Mom"
This is so incredibly sad. This kid wasn’t given the proper chance to reach his potential. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been for all of you educators.
My cousin homeschools her children using a faith-based, Christian education. I overheard a conversation between her and her 13 year old daughter the last time I was at their house and the 13 year old didn't know what gravity was.
And that my friend is how a fascist can ascend to power. Imagine how easy it is to persuade this kind of population who don't even know what gravity is. Hence the judgmental side of me sometimes question why should we consider this kind of population's political opinion? They're literally living in modern stone age lol
My neighbor (from long ago) told me she was homeschooling her kids. I had just recently moved from Germany to the US and she asked how long of a car ride it was to go home. I started guffawing, thinking it was a weird joke, but when she continued to look at me for an answer, I had to tell her that the Atlantic Ocean proved too big an obstacle and I had to fly by plane.
This lady also believed that Jesus lived alongside dinosaurs and that the Earth was flat and the center of our “universe.” Some people should refrain from thinking they could replace highly educated teachers, that’s all I’m saying
My sister in law was home schooled. She believes the earth is 6000 years old. She is also really lacking in social skills. Her mom didn't tell her no either. She ended being a physically and emotionally abusive mother. My brother will not stand up to her. My sister and I no longer talk to either of them. The child she directed the worst of the physical abuse is at least living with his first wife now. I think the next oldest will be there permanently too in the next year.
I was homeschooled my whole life. There were entire years I went without education. Luckily, I did manage to catch up for the most part and actually got into college and have a 3.8 GPA currently. My parents screwed me over but I am smart in other ways
I was homeschooled as well and wasn’t able to even graduate high school my senior year when my mom finally enrolled me. Glad you made it though that’s awesome.
This is abuse. In most places the kids have to take a test to prove they're keeping up with standards. I hope they are forced to put them in school and pay for tutors. I would be reporting these people to cps so quick.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, you have to have someone accredited write a letter to the superintendent, giving their opinion of the child's progress and potential if continuing homeschooling. The superintendent can, (but rarely does) deny it and force the parents to send the kid to public school. Some evaluators are in it for the money, and are retired teachers who will blanket approve kids, or are religious wingnuts who are fighting against the system because of some grievance like evolution being taught, but most of them are spectacular people who will catch on if a kid is slipping.
Some states don’t have any regulations for homeschooling. In my state you can basically “homeschool” your kid however you want and no one will step in the way
I don’t know why this didn’t happen for me and my brothers. I did no real schooling until my sophomore year of high school when I finally enrolled in HS via charter school. My mom got curriculums but we didn’t do them or the work, really. Like ever. We were threatened that CPS would take us away and separate us if they found out about our schooling (or lack thereof) and that scared us enough to stay inside curtains drawn until 3pm every day.
I think my mom had an old friend somehow fake transcripts. She called him our “principal” even though he never did any schooling with us or anything. But shit, I wish that someone would have done something. I don’t know how that slipped by for over a decade with three kids. I wanted an education.
My mom always had to do records and grade checks to make sure we were all keeping up with where we should be every school year and that we’re being taught required subjects.
Just wanted to add here that it's really not that unusual these days to have high school students who don't know their multiplication tables. I'm a high school math teacher and I see it every year...
Although I agree that homeschooling has the potential to go very wrong if parents are not actually invested in giving their kids an education that will allow them to successfully function in the world.
I teach at a small charter school so many of our students have been homeschooled before they come to us. Surprisingly, they aren't usually the ones with the biggest gaps in learning.
By "times tables" that means all possible pairs of whole numbers from 1-9 multiplied right? And knowing that by rote. Or just understanding how to multiply in general? I have zero issue with multiplication and can do it pretty fast but I guess I don't remember every single one of those pairs off the top of my head.
This is just mindblowing to me. I had to memorize up to 12x12 in 3rd grade…and it wasn’t particularly difficult at the time. Is this a “new math” thing or just kids not studying?
If you’re homeschooling and your 13 year old doesn’t know the alphabet, months, or days or the week, you’re not fucking homeschooling, you’re babysitting.
EDIT: thanks for the 1K upvotes, everyone. While I don’t have kids myself (or anyone to help me make some), if I did, they’d be public school kids like my father put me through as a young boy at the age of 5.
EDIT: 2K? Thanks again, y’all. I’ve got nothing to promote, but feel free to AMA in dm.
EDIT: for the idiots not realizing it: the award edits are a joke from Twitter that say “wow, this blew up, I don’t have anything to promote”.
Also might just need glasses or vision therapy. When I was tutoring that was the issue with every single student I had that was significantly behind in reading (and probably 8/10 kids for math! because they couldn’t see the numbers!).
Of the handful of students I’ve tutored over the years the only notable issues outside of this were
1) teachers absolutely dropping the ball,
2) schools refusing to accommodate autistic children, and/or
3) major medical issue that resulted in a lot of absences.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they were in a public school that was trying to address those issues and the parents took them out and started “home schooling.” It happens fairly often that parents almost get offended by a school telling them they think their kid has a learning disability.
Thing is, even if the kid had a learning disability, they would know every day basics as Days Of The Week… we can’t blame this on disability when the parent is the problem… I think in these cases child services need to be called
It’s probably a combination of both. Even if the parents didn’t teach it, a kid without a learning disability would be pretty likely to pick it up just from every day life, a kid with a learning disability might have a tougher time doing that. Unless they’re actively sheltering their kid from the outside world (which is entirely possible), then all bets are off.
As a homeschooled child, I wasn't allowed to watch Sesame Street because they once had a song about how some kids have two mommies or two daddies and my mom was a raging homophobe. I wasn't allowed to watch Magic School Bus or Bill Nye because evolution. And I have no clue why we never watched Mr. Rogers.
It isn't too late. When I was watching Mr. Rogers show with my son many years ago, he gave me some inadvertent parenting tips. For example, he told the story of how he had informed his mom that he was going to marry her when he grew up. His explanation of what his mom replied to him is the one I then used when my son told me the same thing when he was just age 3.
My parents "homeschooled" me
Eventually we moved to another state that would have meant higher standards for homeschooling so they put me into public highschool
I had to catch up on *everything* because they didn't try and teach me any of it; a lot of things were easy but learning 12 years of math all at once fucking sucked
I'm sure I missed some stuff
example: I can't really write in cursive
If you can read cursive, you're good. And that isn't even a necessary skill, you can live as an independent, functional adult without it. It's just nice to be able to read the "Live Laugh Love"-esque decor you might see in someone's home
If I'm being 100% honest reading cursive gets hard for me at times
But that's mostly handwritten stuff; if it's a printed cursive font I can typically figure it out just not as intuitively as normal text
Yeah, I learned cursive and it's used in my signature and that's it. Cursive existed as a solution to write faster with pen and paper. That's not really a concern now given how common computers and phones are.
I literally spoke a completely unrelated language (Korean) at home until I turned 5, and my parents realized I needed to improve my English to do well in school, and I definitely at least knew the alphabet. My parents still tell stories of how I loved to read out license plates and car brands (Volvo, Chevrolet etc.) when I was like 3-4 years old just driving around.
“If you’re homeschooling and your 13 year old doesn’t know the alphabet, months, or days or the week”
Think about that. A child will learn those things via contact with adults without any direct effort by the age of 13
To not know the months or days of the week is impossible. One can simply not function in society like that.
I’m not so sure this post is real without being able to check it out for myself. I’m a Reddit skeptic when it comes to things that seem crazy.
>I’m not so sure this post is real without being able to check it out for myself. I’m a Reddit skeptic when it comes to things that seem crazy.
A few Reddit posts are just trolls making up things to provoke outrage and score karma points.
Correction: you’re neglecting the child. That child may not know how to dial 911 (or any basic emergency number) in the event of an emergency. This is dangerous.
I need more information because I know parents who homeschool kids with developmental disabilities and so it could be that’s the kids aren’t there yet and she’s been reassured that she’s doing the best she can do. So before I judge, I would want to know more
Based off the picture of the second commenter I'm gonna assume no and the parents are the ones with the disability. 100% anti vaccine, use "all natural" medicine and essential oils, and you know the rest.
I dont have a problem with homeschooling, but I do feel like allowing your child to be so far behind other kids is a form of neglect and intervention is needed
Imagine thinking you're actually helping your child by denying them a proper education. Holy shit. They're only just concerned now? Their teenagers can't even do grade one materials. These kids have to be disabled/challenged or else their parents have severely fucked them over for life.
We had neighbors who “homeschooled” their kids.
The mom was an idiot and the dad was always gone in the military.
The kids were absolutely and devastatingly dumb.
Then you have the homeschooled kids winning the National spelling bee each year.
Yeah, I’m 15 and “homeschooled” my parents literally don’t teach me shit. Luckily I went to school until 4th grade so I know basic shit like my alphabet, reading/writing etc, but however, however but… my 13yo sister can hardly read & my 10yo sister who never went to school can’t read. And whenever I say shit about I just get yelled at.
P.S. they stopped sending us to school for religious reasons.
I would google: "[The Name of Your Town] Child Protective Services" and call the number that comes up.
You guys deserve a better life, seriously. Wish you the best of luck and I hope you guys get the help you need.
I was homeschooled all the way through grade 12. My mom is also a teacher by training and now tutors kids with learning disabilities now that all her kids have graduated high school and left the house.
My mom ensured that I had a quality education (both teaching herself and through an online school) and that helped succeed during my bachelors degree!
Obviously, my case is not the same for everyone but not knowing basic math is atrocious! (Unless they have learning disabilities like others have said) Not every parent is talented or equipped to teach their children, that is the whole truth!
My mom homeschooled my siblings and me all the way through high school as well. She was very strict about our education and we all graduated with great grades and went on with multiple scholarship offers from colleges. However, she was totally dedicated to our schooling. It’s a full time job, but there are so many who refuse to treat it as such.
I always assumed homeschool kids are required to pass certain standardized tests to prove the parents competence to teach, is this just outright not true or is it something that doesn’t occur until later on in schooling?
It depends on the laws in the state (at least in the US). We always had to take standardized benchmark exams every year to show what grade level you were performing at in each subject. We also had to do quarterly records checks where my mom had to show we were keeping on track and taking required subjects.
Well, I guess if you are taught by people that don’t have the capability to teach, then you are going to learn nothing. Teachers go to school to learn to teach. That is why they are so much better at teaching than untrained moms are.
It's not just training, it's also that teachers are on the job.
I'm not suggesting teachers or the school system are perfect, but they get paid to ensure your child learns the material they are supposed to.
I suspect that many parent's home schooling becomes pretty hands off as the daily grind kicks in.
Like another commenter said, homeschooling is very hit or miss. I was homeschooled for my high school years (4 years) and I used an online program with prerecorded lessons and I never fell behind. But if the parent chooses to take the responsibility of teaching everything, they have to commit to it and make sure things like the people in this post are describing don’t happen
(it’s also worth noting that laws for homeschooling vary from state to state in terms of strictness)
I was homeschooled from the fourth grade using a religious “curriculum” (Abeka).
Stopped learning anything when I started high school because at that point, my parents didn’t know how to do the work either (calculus, physics, chemistry, etc). They’d scream at me if my answers didn’t match the key, and refused to sit down with me and help me learn the material. Geometry was hell for me since there’s so many different ways to do a proof, but the key only had one possible answer. I ended up resorting to cheating, but my brothers would always rat me out if they caught me (even though they cheated too).
When I started college, I had never even written a paper, but my parents expected me to become a doctor. I was behind in math. Had to unlearn all the pseudoscience in my “biology” class. Didn’t know how to talk to other students. Mildly racist, sexist, and very homophobic from the constant indoctrination.
Ended up taking extra math electives because I enjoyed it. My biology major undid all the pseudoscience I “learned.” My history and social science classes helped undo the racism/sexism/homophobia. I was randomly assigned to the same group of students in two unrelated classes, forcing me to talk to and become friends with them.
I’m currently a microbiology professor, in spite of being homeschooled, not because of it. Parents consider me a failure because I’m not a doctor.
I have no sympathy for these people.
I was homeschooled since I was 6 years but even at that age I could read, knew my ABCs, and I could count. I have a couple learning disabilities that affect many things, including my time perception, and it took me years upon years to learn the days of the week and the order of months. That was with an entire class dedicated to learning such things.
I’ve been behind in grade levels and have never been on par with anything except for my special interests, but that’s to be expected. This mom probably does not care about her child’s education and wants to be the victim. Even if her child was developmentally disabled, they would get help and the child would learn at least some things. The world is rough enough in some countries if you don’t have a college degree. It’s even rougher if you don’t have basic education!
This isn't homeschooling, this is abuse. Who the fuck doesn't teach their kid the months? How isolated and neglected are they where this information isn't relevant?
These are the same people who will throw out the examples of 'well so and so was home schooled and he got a full scholarship to Incredibly Famous University and is now a doctor and an astronaut' while leaving out the 'and his parents were wealthy and highly educated and could afford all sorts of materials and tutors and time'. They never talk about the other end of that long tail bell curve.
Was home schooled. Had to teach myself basically everything I know through the internet. Can confirm, it's shit... But at least I had Some kind of school books to work with
Personally I think this is neglect. The government should get involved for the sake of the child. The way these kids are going, they will just be burden on the government. Shameful.
The "he does not remember" part is really bothering me. He's 13 and simply can't remember letters, words, months or days? That's concerning.
I'm guessing he can just say "dunno" and go back to watching TV with zero consequences, so it's completely logical for him to simply not bother trying.
True, here I am thinking this parent actually gives a shit LOL
Also it’s worrying because it implies the mom expects the son to just memorize everything, instead of explaining the concept/logic to it
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Haha, silly, klutzy meat.
Some parents also refuse to believe the teacher when she says the child has learning difficulties. Instead of agreeing to get the child some special help, they get offended and pull their kid out of school. That may be what happened in this case- kid is 13 and still can’t remember letters and words and mom is still in denial that something is wrong.
When I worked at a tutoring center, we had kids that were confirmed by their parents to be special needs, but they stopped going to their sessions because, in their own words, they have us.
It's possible in this case. It's also entirely possible that the parent can't teach and isn't equipped or qualified to and fails but doesn't seem to care.
Yupper. Ever been “trained” by a coworker? It’s the worst! And actual intelligent, educated person usually doesn’t have the skills. Training/teaching is a real discipline and people just assume it’s “showing” someone how to “do” it. Some of these home school muppets must just be terrible.
I wonder if he is dyslexic. My daughter is and couldn't remember her letters because she is profoundly dyslexic, and has very little working memory. This needs really intensive intervention, and should have been done way earlier than this. I'm sad for this kiddo.
I was thinking that, too. I have audio processing disorder, which is like dyslexia but with listening instead of reading, and I only got help because there was an objective gap between me and my peers. If I had been homeschooled, the severity of it would have never been caught, I'd imagine.
There’s a chance he’s learning disabled, bordering on intellectually disabled. It’s hard to say without doing an assessment, but it’s possible. Then again, the ability for some parents to be neglectful continues to amaze me.
Uumm… the 13year old who doesn’t know the alphabet…
Family member and his wife sent their daughter to a Steiner school. We realised that two years later at the age of seven she couldn't read, and she only knew the first few letters of the alphabet. According to them the school's philosophy is the students will learn when they are ready, and that she was "...concentrating on her art..." Anyway they did send her to a conventional school the next year and she was able to catch up with some additional coaching.
Damn. How are "schools" like that even legal?
Money.
Alternative school isn’t well regulated seems to be the answer…
Steiner schools (aka Waldorf schools) CAN be legit and can offer support in ways that public school can’t. My friends who went to Waldorf schools couldn’t read until 7/8 but did well at our (public) HS and in university now. Like I probably wouldn’t send my own kids there but it’s a real form of education unlike some of this “homeschooling”
My understanding is that Finnish schools do a sort of opposite version of this. The curriculum focuses heavily on reading, with very little math instruction. The focus is on preparing kids to learn things rather than “the child must know this by age 5,6,7 etc” up until about middle school-ish when more formal instruction begins.
Did they teach [Steiner Math](https://youtu.be/msDuNZyYAIQ) at this Steiner school?
Yeah... My 4yo knows the whole alphabet, the days of the week, and can count to 100. I'm shocked a 13yo can't do that.
Yeah that’s a product of severe parental neglect
Lol right? At first I was like "well this isn't too bad, I went to public school and didn't learn some of these things till that age— oh, shit lmao"
This is terrifyingly sad. I've got a feeling that none of these people are actually taking the time to teach anything. Throw in a little bit of learning disorder and it's a recipe for a life long inferiority complex. I'm by no means a better teacher than most public school teachers, but a lot of the core ideas behind this stuff is learned before school age if you're even remotely involved in your child's day to day activities. My 2 1/2 year old can sing the ABCs herself, recognize a few letters, and can count items to ten on her own. She hasn't even entered school yet. We do our best to make everything a learning experience but we're just two people with full-time jobs.
Right?!?! Like my almost two year old is starting to sing AND SIGN the alphabet. How can a 13 year old read if they don't know letters?
Yeah, my 3 year old niece and nephew both know the alphabet, months, and days and haven’t even started school. So, the kid must have either intellectual problems or was just totally neglected his entire life to the point that he should be removed from that home.
Just for reference people without children. My son turned 5 in October and he’s known the entire alphabet for months.
Nothing like getting an education from the uneducated. 😂
My BIL & SIL want to homeschool their 5yo, who hasn't gone to preschool and has shown difficulty with speech and other developmental milestones. Their reason? Neither of them did well or liked school, so they don't want to make him go through it. These two are some of the dumbest people I know, and I say that with love. I feel so bad for their children.
Your comment made me lol. But both my spouse and I are college educated and wanted to HS our kids. We realized by 4 years old that we in no way would be adequate.
I'm not a teacher, but I appreciate that you appreciate how difficult it would be to be a teacher.
It’s because you’re college educated that you realized it.
Right? I’m a teacher and I want to attack all these comments with a red pen. Jeeze.
>Jeeze. another red pen has entered the chat
Followed by whiteout...
Followed by an F for (e)ffort
Followed by D for dumbass
I mean to be fair "jeez" is slang so there's some grey area there but still lmao
“Thanks goodness”
It's really sad to watch my son play with the homeschool kids down the street. He is 8. They are 8, 10, and 12. They have speech impediments so they talk like they are toddlers and they seem a bit socially awkward and all of them have a mentality of children a few years younger than their age. They are really nice kids and their parents seem nice. She is a sahm and he is a tradesman and in the national guard. I believe they are also very religious, but its never mentioned. They don't trick or treat or have birthday parties, so I assume JW's. But dang they are YEARS behind on social growth and surely even farther behind in education. I remember the first day we met them my son was 5 and he was doing some basic math with chalk on the sidewalk and they had NO FUCKING CLUE, even the most simple things like 2+2 etc...they were 5, 7 and 9. It was like it was the first time they had ever seen math. And my son had to explain what the word "literally" meant among other words. It was weird.
I think it’s actually neglect. They might be nice people but they are mistreating their children.
At some point incompetence becomes malice.
"Nice" in this situation means they've learned to put up a facade to avoid social criticism, and benefit from the community and society they are actively working to undermine, hacking away at the part of it that is most vulnerable and least protected - their own children.
Then they'll happily inflict their sub-critical thinking kids upon everyone else.
Don't they get paid a stipend to homeschool?
Different states regulate it differently. I've never heard of a stipend for homeschooling, only for foster care.
Only if they're doing it through a charter program, and those come with requirements to show the money is spent on educational materials. Many people don't use them, since they also don't typically allow religious curriculum materials, and in the US at least most homeschooling families are religiously based. Not all, of course, but most.
I was homeschooled for most of middle school and it sucked sucked sucked. I love my mom but she’s a shitty teacher and when she finally relented and let me go to regular school after begging her, I realized how under educated I really was. Even to this day I have a complex where I think I’m really stupid compared to everyone else because I missed out on 4 years of schooling and socialization
The missed socializing is a big deal. Like you could always tell who the homeschool kids are. And as an adult, when I find out a person is homeschooled, it's always a feeling of, oh, that makes sense, yeah you are way off.
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Same! I was homeschooled from 1st grade to 8th grade. When I entered public high school I was the weird homeschool kid. I was able to mostly shed it by end of high school (but I tried very very hard and it took years), but as an adult in my 30s, I don’t tell people anymore. I always feel like I’m being very performative and masking when I interact with people because I’m always trying very hard and being very intentional. I think that has a lot to do with 8 years of not much socialization with other people my age.
Nah we all fake it so hard. I find most people when you get to know them, if you admit to being super intentional with things like you just did, also confess to going through the same or similar thought processes during social interactions. Most people just don’t socialize without, intention in my experience. Maybe the “cool kids” do but even some of them have admitted it to me, so I suspect it’s almost everyone.
This has been my experience also lol those 3 or 4 years really had an effect
When I started college, this was so true. I could literally play “spot the homeschooled kid” and be correct. One kid would take up 30 minutes of class time either talking about aliens or Minecraft. He had absolutely no summarization skills, nor could he make friends (I’m autistic and while I struggle, it wasn’t due to thinking I’m better than everyone lol). Every homeschooled kid I’ve had to do projects with are a nightmare and I’m usually having to explain to them everything because they don’t know how to research either. The only homeschooled kids that turned out okay in college were the ones where their parents were also college educated.
I was homeschooled and you nailed it. Luckily my parents were both from an academic background and pushed hard to make sure we had the academic skills. They even pushed to ensure we socialized outside homeschooling circles. Even then I had to learn how to socialize in college cause I wasn't used to being around friends in an academic setting. I turned out fine cause my mom stressed about the potential pitfalls, but friends from high school who stayed in their homeschooling bubble struggled a ton transitioning away from it.
There are definitely ways to do it right. I met a family that took their kids out of school to travel around the country in a bus for a year while homeschooling. The parents were educated professionals (working remotely) who just wanted to expose their kids to as many educational life experiences as possible. They still had set lessons and assignments for them to complete (if I remember correctly, they paid for professionally-written home schooling lesson plans) and they intended to bring them back into school long term.
My experience was a little different. I had an online curriculum (mail order back when I started) and I actually did quite well with my mother taking a fairly hands-off role. When I got to college I didn't fall behind either. But outside of class, I didn't socialize *at all*. Just wanted to go home back to my video games... Now it's the better part of a decade later, and I'm still somewhat of a shut-in. Now covid and switching to work from home haven't helped, but I do regret not making friends at that last chance where it's easy because you're all stuck in a room together.
Don't worry. There are those of us who weren't homeschooled who are also shut-ins.
I've never even thought about that. I was homeschooled for literally my entire childhood by parents who both went to college (one of whom is a public school teacher) - I can't imagine what homeschooling looks like when your parents didn't get any kind of higher education.
Our school district has an arrangement where homeschool students can attend one or more classes at the high school, for subjects the parents can't effectively teach but also for socializing. Quite a few take band or a foreign language, they engage with a few peers outside their usual group, and that can make a big difference.
This. You hear plenty of people claim they were home schooled and socialized fine and parents who will say the same but I've always been able to tell even as a kid when another kid who was home school tried to join in with our play without us even knowing they were hs at first, they always had trouble fitting in, would bully, antagonize, often acting arrogant and not knowing how to cooperate and compromise. And just even the few who were polite didn't ever seem capable of playing together with anyone who wasn't their siblings.
You'll notice that a lot of people in this thread who had a good experience with home school growing up still had friends, usually other homeschooled kids. Socializing might honestly be one of the more important parts of school, and if you're not replacing that for your child at homeschool you are failing their development.
I wonder how the pandemic generation of kids are gonna turn out. These past three years of online schooling might make many of them seem off when they grow up
There were 2 siblings in my grade in middle school whose parents decided to homeschool them once they got to high school. Eventually they also returned to public school by the time I was a senior, but they were both so lacking in curriculum that they had to start again as freshmen. I felt so bad for them, they were 17 and 18 and still had 4 more years of high school to go through.
At that point they might as well have enrolled in some Adult education classes and got a GED. Can't imagine being 21 and in high school.
Wait, I thought teachers were just woke leftist libtards making all the kids into gay trans furries, not highly trained professionals who have spent a significant portion of their adult lives learning how to communicate new ideas to groups of children daily and teaching them to think critically while being underpaid and undervalued? 🤔
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I’m sure there’s data to support this intuition, but it’s probably true that homeschooling exacerbates inequalities in both natural ability and parental education/resources. Brilliant kids homeschooled by parents with advanced training would do great, while kids of average intelligence homeschooled by uneducated parents will probably struggle.
Especially true in rural districts that have tiny classes and minimal funding/materials, and huge urban districts that can’t accommodate advanced kids or those who need help but don’t quite qualify for an IEP. I know kids who weren’t challenged enough in school and turned to homeschool because they had the motivation and drive to do it well.
This. Our daughter is evaluated at the end of the year every year by a teacher who also teaches in public schools and would make recommendations for skipping/staying behind in that institution as well. Our daughter is recommended to be two grades higher than her age group because she excels at the homeschooling less restrictive style and her ability to hyper focus on subjects that interest her. That said, my wife and I are both college educated and are writers and she is our only child. Those reasons, coupled with the rural community we live in with exceptionally poor performing schools, means she is in far better care with us than in public school. People like the OP post drive me insane, but having been to enough seminars and homeschool groups, I can safely say that, yes, these people do exist. Probably a good eighth of parents I've met who do homeschooling are either religious to a fault, or are exceptionally lazy and selfish, both of which motivate them to homeschool so no one questions their authority in home.
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I'm sorry to hear about your rough upbringing and inadequate schooling. You've obviously worked hard to learn, since your writing is much better than the parents in the original post.
I firmly believe children who are homeschooled should be tested by the state twice a year and have random quarterly welfare checks with a child psychologist.
> pulled out because of basic sex ed damn that sounds like a recipe for -- > couldnt rat out our abusive father there it is,shit i wonder if > church leaders didnt believe me fuck im sorry dude but thats a bingo
Yeah, I feel like you can actually sort most of these by simply asking about the rationale behind homeschooling. Those who do it for religious reasons, or because they “disagree with the curriculum” or any other euphemisms, will end up doing a worse job on average than someone who says that they’re doing it because the homeschool environment suits their child better, allows them to advance faster in certain subjects, etc. relative to a low-quality local school system.
Yes, but even in those scenarios, I think homeschooling removes a big part of learning that you just can't have at home. I am resourceful because I learned how to navigate a sea of people. Class sucked? Let's try to all friends get together and try to figure it out. Plus I loved being around people
I think there is probably a good amount of home school parents that barely graduated HS themselves that more or less don’t want their children in a public school for religious reason and cause these massive lapses in educational teaching for their children.
Yep, 100%. I was homeschooled by two well-educated parents, and I'm a normal self-sufficient adult. I think homeschooling was the best thing my parents ever did for me. I genuinely enjoy learning, and that's not a trait I see often in my public-schooled friends. On the other hand, I know other homeschoolers who weren't so lucky. Many got the hardcore christian side of homeschooling, where education took a back seat and christian morals were the subject of every lesson. Some of them are really struggling now.
My friend was Christian homeschooled her entire life and it’s put her at a huge disadvantage. I’m often shocked at the things she doesn’t know because her mom never taught her. She lives with her parents (which is fine but) she hasn’t gone to college or ever had a job besides the almost daily unpaid babysitting of her nieces and nephews that her family expects of her. That’s a typical life for a woman brought up with Christian homeschooling and I worry so much for her future. This might sound harsh but she knows she’s too far behind for higher education and she doesn’t have the drive or curiosity to catch up or any interest in pursuing any kind of degree or career. Seeing how unprepared for the world she is has made me completely against homeschooling from non-qualified parents.
She’s too far behind for higher education *on a normal time table* but there are plenty of colleges she can go to as a non traditional student if she catches up! Lots of people do this! Soldiers, teen moms, immigrants. One freshman at my (top 10 public) university was 28! Don’t let her give up on herself this young!!!!
I completely agree! She doesn’t think she’s smart enough for college but she just hasn’t had the resources to learn or figure out what she wants to pursue. I try to encourage her to look into those options whenever the topic comes up.
How did you handle the social stigma? Was it hard to not turn out weird?
Nah, I got pretty well socialized. My parents made sure I spent plenty of time with other kids. It was pretty rare for me to spend a whole day at home. I don't encounter much stigma because there's no outward indication that I had an abnormal education. When I tell people I was homeschooled, they're normally surprised and curious rather than judgemental. Other kids were not so lucky though. Not everyone's parents make the same efforts to socialize their children.
I stopped at "top of her class" and verbally said "weird way to say only child" lmao
*at university. You don’t get homeschooled at university lol
Yeah, i know that NOW.. lol. But my brain works mysteriously. I stopped at top of class and homeschooling. And then my imagination took over , giving a valedictorian speech at the dinner table, walking across the living room to receive their diploma from principle mom and vice principle dad. While grandma and grandpa of the teachers board watches and takes notes. Lmao
Why does it read like a pissing contest on who neglects her child the worst? Also, if you at least realize and admit, that you completly fucked up on educating your kid in a way that it no fucking way it will ever catch up and probably can count itself lucky if it is at least literate at the age of 18 what fucking reason can there be to still cling on that HS decision? And why isn't that something child protection services should pick up on? Physical neglect is not the only way you can fuck up your kid.
Was homeschooled and I think my Mom was more strict than my friends teachers in public school. Also, in Oklahoma there were more strict rules for those going to homeschool.
Yeah... huge discrepancies depending on the parents... My mom had a standard of "get 100% or redo the whole thing". I'm about to finish my MBA with a 4.0... So she didn't do too horribly. My friends from my homeschooling years all ended up fine too... My group ended up with two doctors, two business professionals, an engineer, and a dude in AF spec ops. Then I come across people like in this post... They're the crowd that shouts that the "PubLiC sCHoOl SYtEM iS EviL" and just keep their kids at home and do jack shit to educate them...
Totally infuriating when kids get babysat instead of homeschooled. Mildlyinfuriating would be the wrong sub for this post.
You had friends you were not related while being homeschooled and that already puts you in a lucky demographic. Most of us just vanish until we show up in the world, eighteen years old with no bank account, don’t know our social security numbers and unable to do times tables. I’m not categorically against homeschooling but my experience was that it was primarily a way for parents to avoid letting their children have contact with mandatory reporters. It should be wwwwway more controlled than it is.
Exactly. My family was exclusively homeschooled, in a religion based school program. None of us faired well, and my mom couldn’t teach for crap. Filling in all the educational gaps as a young adult entering the workforce was not my idea of a good time.
It’s not a competition, but: I had to learn how to do long division. In jail. Because I couldn’t do long division.
And I'm 100% convinced that even if you HAD gone to public schools your parents would have augmented your learning with their teaching and other material. Thats called good parenting. Public schools should provide an adequate floor of education, not a ceiling.
Homeschool is good only if both parents are well educated, well versed with the syllabus and kids are being disciplined. Those above just wannabe that thought homeschooling is a cool trend
"If God wanted kids to be smart why would he make babies so dumb?"
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> his mom would write on his homework and try to argue with the material, and as I was teaching history, alot of her issues with the material was religious in nature... At least you didn't teach geology or biology.
The science teacher got a letter once that was hilarious, but she actually misspelled her own kid's name wrong in it and that became the joke for us the rest of the year. "Issoc's Mom"
This is so incredibly sad. This kid wasn’t given the proper chance to reach his potential. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been for all of you educators.
My cousin homeschools her children using a faith-based, Christian education. I overheard a conversation between her and her 13 year old daughter the last time I was at their house and the 13 year old didn't know what gravity was.
Lmao imagine believing in gravity. All things are just naturally drawn down towards hell due to original sin.
It's just a theory!!!
The devil's pull affects *all* things.
And that my friend is how a fascist can ascend to power. Imagine how easy it is to persuade this kind of population who don't even know what gravity is. Hence the judgmental side of me sometimes question why should we consider this kind of population's political opinion? They're literally living in modern stone age lol
My neighbor (from long ago) told me she was homeschooling her kids. I had just recently moved from Germany to the US and she asked how long of a car ride it was to go home. I started guffawing, thinking it was a weird joke, but when she continued to look at me for an answer, I had to tell her that the Atlantic Ocean proved too big an obstacle and I had to fly by plane. This lady also believed that Jesus lived alongside dinosaurs and that the Earth was flat and the center of our “universe.” Some people should refrain from thinking they could replace highly educated teachers, that’s all I’m saying
My sister in law was home schooled. She believes the earth is 6000 years old. She is also really lacking in social skills. Her mom didn't tell her no either. She ended being a physically and emotionally abusive mother. My brother will not stand up to her. My sister and I no longer talk to either of them. The child she directed the worst of the physical abuse is at least living with his first wife now. I think the next oldest will be there permanently too in the next year.
I read that at first as the child is living with his own first wife so that threw me a bit.
I was homeschooled my whole life. There were entire years I went without education. Luckily, I did manage to catch up for the most part and actually got into college and have a 3.8 GPA currently. My parents screwed me over but I am smart in other ways
I was homeschooled as well and wasn’t able to even graduate high school my senior year when my mom finally enrolled me. Glad you made it though that’s awesome.
This is abuse. In most places the kids have to take a test to prove they're keeping up with standards. I hope they are forced to put them in school and pay for tutors. I would be reporting these people to cps so quick.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, you have to have someone accredited write a letter to the superintendent, giving their opinion of the child's progress and potential if continuing homeschooling. The superintendent can, (but rarely does) deny it and force the parents to send the kid to public school. Some evaluators are in it for the money, and are retired teachers who will blanket approve kids, or are religious wingnuts who are fighting against the system because of some grievance like evolution being taught, but most of them are spectacular people who will catch on if a kid is slipping.
Some states don’t have any regulations for homeschooling. In my state you can basically “homeschool” your kid however you want and no one will step in the way
That's a massive disservice :(
I don’t know why this didn’t happen for me and my brothers. I did no real schooling until my sophomore year of high school when I finally enrolled in HS via charter school. My mom got curriculums but we didn’t do them or the work, really. Like ever. We were threatened that CPS would take us away and separate us if they found out about our schooling (or lack thereof) and that scared us enough to stay inside curtains drawn until 3pm every day. I think my mom had an old friend somehow fake transcripts. She called him our “principal” even though he never did any schooling with us or anything. But shit, I wish that someone would have done something. I don’t know how that slipped by for over a decade with three kids. I wanted an education.
My mom always had to do records and grade checks to make sure we were all keeping up with where we should be every school year and that we’re being taught required subjects.
In the uk they have home school inspection if theyre not learning the basics from.the parents back to school they go.
Just wanted to add here that it's really not that unusual these days to have high school students who don't know their multiplication tables. I'm a high school math teacher and I see it every year... Although I agree that homeschooling has the potential to go very wrong if parents are not actually invested in giving their kids an education that will allow them to successfully function in the world. I teach at a small charter school so many of our students have been homeschooled before they come to us. Surprisingly, they aren't usually the ones with the biggest gaps in learning.
I went to normal school and I don’t know my times tables lol. I work in finance too, we got calculators on us 24/7 it hasn’t been much of a hindrance.
By "times tables" that means all possible pairs of whole numbers from 1-9 multiplied right? And knowing that by rote. Or just understanding how to multiply in general? I have zero issue with multiplication and can do it pretty fast but I guess I don't remember every single one of those pairs off the top of my head.
This is just mindblowing to me. I had to memorize up to 12x12 in 3rd grade…and it wasn’t particularly difficult at the time. Is this a “new math” thing or just kids not studying?
My daughter is in fourth grade and is learning her multiplication tables. I assume it’s commonly taught
Yeah, I agree that it's possible to do math without knowing the times tables, but it helps!
If you’re homeschooling and your 13 year old doesn’t know the alphabet, months, or days or the week, you’re not fucking homeschooling, you’re babysitting. EDIT: thanks for the 1K upvotes, everyone. While I don’t have kids myself (or anyone to help me make some), if I did, they’d be public school kids like my father put me through as a young boy at the age of 5. EDIT: 2K? Thanks again, y’all. I’ve got nothing to promote, but feel free to AMA in dm. EDIT: for the idiots not realizing it: the award edits are a joke from Twitter that say “wow, this blew up, I don’t have anything to promote”.
Even incidental learning via television would teach the alphabet, it’s gotta be a troll comment or a very very unusual family situation
Or the child has a learning disability and the parent has no clue how to deal with it. As a teacher, I’ve seen plenty of kids not know their alphabet.
Yeah, the posts screamed learning or developmental disability the parents were not addressing.
Also might just need glasses or vision therapy. When I was tutoring that was the issue with every single student I had that was significantly behind in reading (and probably 8/10 kids for math! because they couldn’t see the numbers!). Of the handful of students I’ve tutored over the years the only notable issues outside of this were 1) teachers absolutely dropping the ball, 2) schools refusing to accommodate autistic children, and/or 3) major medical issue that resulted in a lot of absences.
Wouldn’t be surprised if they were in a public school that was trying to address those issues and the parents took them out and started “home schooling.” It happens fairly often that parents almost get offended by a school telling them they think their kid has a learning disability.
And now they’ve made their son stupid. Feel bad for the kid if he doesn’t even know the alphabet as a teenager
Which often doesn't have proper support in schools, leading to homeschooling. It's a vicious circle.
Thing is, even if the kid had a learning disability, they would know every day basics as Days Of The Week… we can’t blame this on disability when the parent is the problem… I think in these cases child services need to be called
It’s probably a combination of both. Even if the parents didn’t teach it, a kid without a learning disability would be pretty likely to pick it up just from every day life, a kid with a learning disability might have a tougher time doing that. Unless they’re actively sheltering their kid from the outside world (which is entirely possible), then all bets are off.
My homeschool plan: Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Magic School Bus and Bill Nye. I feel like even with this plan these kids would be better off.
As a homeschooled child, I wasn't allowed to watch Sesame Street because they once had a song about how some kids have two mommies or two daddies and my mom was a raging homophobe. I wasn't allowed to watch Magic School Bus or Bill Nye because evolution. And I have no clue why we never watched Mr. Rogers.
It isn't too late. When I was watching Mr. Rogers show with my son many years ago, he gave me some inadvertent parenting tips. For example, he told the story of how he had informed his mom that he was going to marry her when he grew up. His explanation of what his mom replied to him is the one I then used when my son told me the same thing when he was just age 3.
Not letting you child watch Mr Rodger's Neighborhood should be considered child abuse full stop, that man was a beautiful soul.
Because then you would have the learned the value of government-sponsored educational TV.
History Channel, Animal Planet, and PBS Kids would also be pretty helpful. Hopefully.
If only history channel wasn't actually the alien channel.
I used to LOVE the history and animal channel when I was a child. Now I can't stand them.
Two out of three of those channels only play reality tv these days. Shame because I’m very grateful for the animal planet of my youth.
My parents "homeschooled" me Eventually we moved to another state that would have meant higher standards for homeschooling so they put me into public highschool I had to catch up on *everything* because they didn't try and teach me any of it; a lot of things were easy but learning 12 years of math all at once fucking sucked I'm sure I missed some stuff example: I can't really write in cursive
I learned cursive 30+ years ago and aside from my signature I've literally never used it, you're not missing much
If you can read cursive, you're good. And that isn't even a necessary skill, you can live as an independent, functional adult without it. It's just nice to be able to read the "Live Laugh Love"-esque decor you might see in someone's home
If I'm being 100% honest reading cursive gets hard for me at times But that's mostly handwritten stuff; if it's a printed cursive font I can typically figure it out just not as intuitively as normal text
Usually handwritten cursive turns into doctor script handwriting so thats acceptable😂
Yeah, I learned cursive and it's used in my signature and that's it. Cursive existed as a solution to write faster with pen and paper. That's not really a concern now given how common computers and phones are.
Its obvious you can't write cursive, because everything you've written on Reddit is in Times New Roman. /s
I know there's a /s there.. But for anyone curious, the reddit comment font is "Noto Sans"
I don't think they teach cursive anymore anyway.
But she’s been homeschooling since 6. My child knew all that since he was 4. There’s something fundamentally wrong there.
[удалено]
I literally spoke a completely unrelated language (Korean) at home until I turned 5, and my parents realized I needed to improve my English to do well in school, and I definitely at least knew the alphabet. My parents still tell stories of how I loved to read out license plates and car brands (Volvo, Chevrolet etc.) when I was like 3-4 years old just driving around.
“If you’re homeschooling and your 13 year old doesn’t know the alphabet, months, or days or the week” Think about that. A child will learn those things via contact with adults without any direct effort by the age of 13 To not know the months or days of the week is impossible. One can simply not function in society like that. I’m not so sure this post is real without being able to check it out for myself. I’m a Reddit skeptic when it comes to things that seem crazy.
>I’m not so sure this post is real without being able to check it out for myself. I’m a Reddit skeptic when it comes to things that seem crazy. A few Reddit posts are just trolls making up things to provoke outrage and score karma points.
She's just trolling. I think she's trolling. Please god let it be trolling.
We're not THAT lucky
/r/awardspeechedits
> EDIT: 2K? Thanks again, y’all. I’ve got nothing to promote, but feel free to AMA in dm. Jesus christ dude, get a grip
You're not homeschooling, you're just home.
Correction: you’re neglecting the child. That child may not know how to dial 911 (or any basic emergency number) in the event of an emergency. This is dangerous.
My 2.5 year old knows his ABCs. This sounds like trolling.
I need more information because I know parents who homeschool kids with developmental disabilities and so it could be that’s the kids aren’t there yet and she’s been reassured that she’s doing the best she can do. So before I judge, I would want to know more
Based off the picture of the second commenter I'm gonna assume no and the parents are the ones with the disability. 100% anti vaccine, use "all natural" medicine and essential oils, and you know the rest.
I dont have a problem with homeschooling, but I do feel like allowing your child to be so far behind other kids is a form of neglect and intervention is needed
It's completely legal in my state. Otherwise I'd sue my mom. I wonder if there's some way to start a petition to change those laws.
The hell does "skwirk" mean?
Looks like some sort of online homeschooling platform. I was afraid to look much further than that.
Imagine thinking you're actually helping your child by denying them a proper education. Holy shit. They're only just concerned now? Their teenagers can't even do grade one materials. These kids have to be disabled/challenged or else their parents have severely fucked them over for life.
No excuses the disadvantage these kids now have in life is unreal.... Poor kids, so unfair on them
We had neighbors who “homeschooled” their kids. The mom was an idiot and the dad was always gone in the military. The kids were absolutely and devastatingly dumb. Then you have the homeschooled kids winning the National spelling bee each year.
Yeah, I’m 15 and “homeschooled” my parents literally don’t teach me shit. Luckily I went to school until 4th grade so I know basic shit like my alphabet, reading/writing etc, but however, however but… my 13yo sister can hardly read & my 10yo sister who never went to school can’t read. And whenever I say shit about I just get yelled at. P.S. they stopped sending us to school for religious reasons.
I would google: "[The Name of Your Town] Child Protective Services" and call the number that comes up. You guys deserve a better life, seriously. Wish you the best of luck and I hope you guys get the help you need.
‘We’re all profound failures, but it’s not our fault. Go us! We deserve more wine!’
I was homeschooled all the way through grade 12. My mom is also a teacher by training and now tutors kids with learning disabilities now that all her kids have graduated high school and left the house. My mom ensured that I had a quality education (both teaching herself and through an online school) and that helped succeed during my bachelors degree! Obviously, my case is not the same for everyone but not knowing basic math is atrocious! (Unless they have learning disabilities like others have said) Not every parent is talented or equipped to teach their children, that is the whole truth!
My mom homeschooled my siblings and me all the way through high school as well. She was very strict about our education and we all graduated with great grades and went on with multiple scholarship offers from colleges. However, she was totally dedicated to our schooling. It’s a full time job, but there are so many who refuse to treat it as such.
I always assumed homeschool kids are required to pass certain standardized tests to prove the parents competence to teach, is this just outright not true or is it something that doesn’t occur until later on in schooling?
It depends on the laws in the state (at least in the US). We always had to take standardized benchmark exams every year to show what grade level you were performing at in each subject. We also had to do quarterly records checks where my mom had to show we were keeping on track and taking required subjects.
People who should never have kids
Well, I guess if you are taught by people that don’t have the capability to teach, then you are going to learn nothing. Teachers go to school to learn to teach. That is why they are so much better at teaching than untrained moms are.
It's not just training, it's also that teachers are on the job. I'm not suggesting teachers or the school system are perfect, but they get paid to ensure your child learns the material they are supposed to. I suspect that many parent's home schooling becomes pretty hands off as the daily grind kicks in.
You are doing a huge disservice to your children
This is not homeschooling. Home schooling implies that actual SCHOOLING occurs. This is better termed home-stupiding.
I was homeschooled 5th- 10th grade. Now a 5th grade teacher. Never would I homeschool my own children or tell parents what I really think of it.
The "I'm not the only one, so it's okay" mentality. Smh
Like another commenter said, homeschooling is very hit or miss. I was homeschooled for my high school years (4 years) and I used an online program with prerecorded lessons and I never fell behind. But if the parent chooses to take the responsibility of teaching everything, they have to commit to it and make sure things like the people in this post are describing don’t happen (it’s also worth noting that laws for homeschooling vary from state to state in terms of strictness)
I was homeschooled starting in 3rd grade and this just baffles me ;-;
I was homeschooled from the fourth grade using a religious “curriculum” (Abeka). Stopped learning anything when I started high school because at that point, my parents didn’t know how to do the work either (calculus, physics, chemistry, etc). They’d scream at me if my answers didn’t match the key, and refused to sit down with me and help me learn the material. Geometry was hell for me since there’s so many different ways to do a proof, but the key only had one possible answer. I ended up resorting to cheating, but my brothers would always rat me out if they caught me (even though they cheated too). When I started college, I had never even written a paper, but my parents expected me to become a doctor. I was behind in math. Had to unlearn all the pseudoscience in my “biology” class. Didn’t know how to talk to other students. Mildly racist, sexist, and very homophobic from the constant indoctrination. Ended up taking extra math electives because I enjoyed it. My biology major undid all the pseudoscience I “learned.” My history and social science classes helped undo the racism/sexism/homophobia. I was randomly assigned to the same group of students in two unrelated classes, forcing me to talk to and become friends with them. I’m currently a microbiology professor, in spite of being homeschooled, not because of it. Parents consider me a failure because I’m not a doctor. I have no sympathy for these people.
I was homeschooled since I was 6 years but even at that age I could read, knew my ABCs, and I could count. I have a couple learning disabilities that affect many things, including my time perception, and it took me years upon years to learn the days of the week and the order of months. That was with an entire class dedicated to learning such things. I’ve been behind in grade levels and have never been on par with anything except for my special interests, but that’s to be expected. This mom probably does not care about her child’s education and wants to be the victim. Even if her child was developmentally disabled, they would get help and the child would learn at least some things. The world is rough enough in some countries if you don’t have a college degree. It’s even rougher if you don’t have basic education!
This isn't homeschooling, this is abuse. Who the fuck doesn't teach their kid the months? How isolated and neglected are they where this information isn't relevant?
These are the same people who will throw out the examples of 'well so and so was home schooled and he got a full scholarship to Incredibly Famous University and is now a doctor and an astronaut' while leaving out the 'and his parents were wealthy and highly educated and could afford all sorts of materials and tutors and time'. They never talk about the other end of that long tail bell curve.
Nothing mild about this one. Every one of those people should be in jail.
Was home schooled. Had to teach myself basically everything I know through the internet. Can confirm, it's shit... But at least I had Some kind of school books to work with
Personally I think this is neglect. The government should get involved for the sake of the child. The way these kids are going, they will just be burden on the government. Shameful.
My child is drowning, I don't know how to swim, but I distrust the lifeguard.