Virtual School

[bowtieguy]

my oldest has the problem. she took a writing assignment and made it a plea for help on bullying. she mentioned recognition of the opinions of others and a bullying support group. NO ONE at the school responded to her or us.

we'd like to put her in girls scouts or sports to help her confidence and build relationships, but the time and money is not available right now.

i digress so...

i'm not concerned about life lessons, just giving my kids an education w/out distractions. we're told virtual school is becoming more popular and is accepted by the state of florida, but students still have to take required standard evaluation testing(FCAT).

who knows, if more people do it, it will hit educators in the wallet. competition seems to bring out the best in us!

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Opinions from someone who is NOT a parent and went to public schools, for whatever they're worth:

Socialization: Highly necessary, but it sounds like that can happen anyway. The experience I had in public schools didn't exactly do a great job on me, so public schooling isn't a guarantee of good socialization. I've mostly learned to work around it, but I still don't socialize particularly well; this is especially evident in large groups (which I try hard to avoid, but when necessary I tend to stay out of the way and nearly alone in a corner).

Shelter: Kids need to have different teachers on a regular basis and get unfair/inappropriate treatment on occasion that a parent or a repeated teacher could never do. They need to get bullied and mistreated by their peers. They need to learn to accept some of it, and they need to learn how to fight some of it. I question just how well these character building life lessons would be learned by home-schooling. Perhaps the online school would provide at least some of this (from teachers if not from peers).

Those opinions are specific to things I've read in this thread.

yea i agree with the above, i went thru public school and ther were a few homeschooled kids. yea they are like fish outa water, quiet just sit there, try to avoid all social things. of course ive met a few people that are extremely outgoing (i swear some were on speed or somehting) talking a mile a minute excited about everything. some are just "normal" tho(whatever that is nowadays lol)

yes they typoically knew way more than me or anyone i knew but what the parents dont know themselves usually the kids dont know(unless also tutored by grandparents, aunts, uncles) or even friends parents.

personally i belive friends and social interactions and just general knowlege stuff will get them far in life. Most employers look at how they dress and talk. so they might know the most that doesnt automatically get u the job.

so i dunno do what you want but really consider whats best for them, they do need to know what to do in situations weither it be bullying or whatever. cant "hold thier hand" or so to speak forever. are there any private schools down there?

[GasSavers_BEEF]

my main concern with home schooling is the level of education had. this varies greatly with the qualifications of the care giver (parent). my mom was a math teacher and well, I was good at math. be it genetics or atmosphere. what about the stay-at-home mom that barely made it through high school herself? those are the scenarios that I worry about.

btw, I went to public schools.

my mom taught at a private school for a few years when I was young (3 or 4) and went on to teach in public schools herself and she didn't work at the school where we went (she made sure of that for separation purposes). I have been told that I went to the "GOOD" school around where I live. I don't really know because it was the only school that I went to.

as far as the social aspect, the ones that never leave home and never have interaction outside of family are a major concern. I think that if someone actually had their child involved in other activities with other children their age like the Y or with cub scouts or ball teams, that would build that positive social interaction. the question becomes, what about the negative ones? what if they never have to face someone that questions them or provokes them. it is a cruel world we live in and experience counts for a lot.

I guess the reason I am so vocal on this matter is because we recently had a daughter ourselves and may be faced with some of these decisions ourselves someday. faith and public schools don't go together anymore and most teacher do see it as a job not a career (as stated above).

I have just as large a list of reservations about public schools as well. quality of learning along with priorities and opinion based teaching.

*edit* I also meant for this post (and my previous ones) to be constructive criticism. I am not downing anyone that is homeschooled or is thinking of doing this. there are definite positives and negatives to a decision like this, as there are with any decision

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by BEEF

faith and public schools don't go together anymore

That shouldn't be too large of a concern for those not wanting to home-school, as faith-based private schools are many and well-regarded as the better schools. The financial cost can be managed, and help may be available from churches, caring grandparents, or vouchers if they are available.

What is more difficult is for those who want high quality private schooling for their children but prefer to keep religion separate ("You got chocolate in my peanut butter!"). The choices are far fewer. This is a concern for my wife and I sometimes when we discuss hypothetical children.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

holycow,

the way we went about it (hopefully we are good with this) is to purchase a home in a very good school district.

my wife works with the education system and she knows where the good schools are and where they are not. she is the program coordinator for the more-at-four program, it is a free child care program for lower income families. the goal of the program is to break the cycle and hopefully increase the quality of life for the entire family. she also assists the parents in getting GEDs and getting jobs.

one other option you could explore as far as your delema is to see about transferring your child to some of the better public schools. usually there are a few good public schools around. you may have to take them to school every day as they wouldn't send a bus to you. you could possibly just bring your child to the nearest bus stop in that district. there again, phone calls would have to be made and arrangements set up for that to happen.

(if and when you have children)

another interesting tid bit about private schools. there is a very well known christian school near where I grew up. one of the students there dated one of my friends. she graduated top of her class. I never really had much to do with her so I really couldn't tell you how smart she really was. when she tried to get into community college. she did so bad on the entrance exams that she would have to go over a year just to get the remedial classes in before she could get any college credit. the only reason I know that story is because that friend of mine dated her. they broke up not too long after that because my friend went off to college so I don't know how all of that ended up.

I know that isn't how ALL private schools are and it is an extreme example but it makes you think a little.