edit:
Ask a direct question and i will answer, i am an open book!
/edit
I was home schooled for 99% of my life so i'll write a bit of what it felt like, although my situation was a bit different, it shows how great home schooling can be.
Went to public school for 6 months before i was pulled out by my super christian mom, and dad agreed to it
I have 3 younger siblings, 1, 3 and 4 years apart under me
My mother had MS, bipolar, manic, depressed, heart problems (reverse beats) and several other medical problems. (she died in 2008 at the age of 40)
From age of 6-11 we had "school time" where we would read a book, be given homework, talk about what we learned, watch a movie from the library on the topic or whatever. Whenever i had a question "how do planes fly" or "how come your TV has more channels than mine?" my parents would send me to the library to read about it.
I was TAUGHT how to teach myself.From the age of 12-15 there was no "schooling" due to my mother being so sick and stuck in bed and on high as a kite on legal drugs... At this point my other siblings were not getting any education like i did, so me and my sister decided to teach the other 2 how to do math, and how to find books and how such. Clearly the partially blind leading the blind is not the BEST thing, but better than nothing. This kinda stunned my learning since i was re-doing what i already knew and quit learning myself.
16-19 my mother started to FINALLY smoke pot, which helped. And she really pushed hard to make me learn some topics i never liked, like health, alg2, trig, and other topics. I basically ignored her and told her to fuck off that it was pointless (still believe this to this day)
Went to college, quit after 3 years and over 100 credit hours and no degree, worthless crap there. I gained no education, only the idea of MAYBE if i paid enough i could get a worthless piece of paper.
I never got a GED, never got a HS diploma, nor degree from college. I have a 40-80hr week job in the mfg/tech field, make around 40k/yr with base pay. 30 years old. Planning on being FI in 7 years at my current rate.
Soooo now that my life is summed up.
I can answer questions no problem, so ask away! But as broad overview on my thoughts....
-
Social life HAS be given and allowed!!! "Homeschool groups" and 2 friends and kids from church is NOT a social life for a kid. They need to be able to go out to the mall, meet someone on their own. Go hang out randomly, have sleep overs. Being locked up is BAD. It really hit me hard my first 3 months at college, i threw up god knows how many times from people talking to me, and bumping into me.
- Home schooling can be AWESOME. Kids can be taught with a book system, like public schools. Or "topic based" like "lets learn about trains", and you can learn the history, the cost, the current system, the science of how they work. Or you can teach based on what they kid likes and wants to do with their life, if a 12 year old wants to be a pilot, well get him in a plane! If he wants to be a CPA, start pushing maths and ethics. The list goes on and on.
See this link on some of the many methods for home schooling
http://www.parents.com/kids/education/home-schooling/homeschooling-methods/- HAVE the time. You do not need 8 hours a day. I felt and still feel very educated looking back. I remember knowing so much crap that other kids from church didn't know. Or when i went to college i felt 10x above everyone else in alot of areas. I can only think of what a person who actually has a parent there to teach them and guide them could do.
- I loved it, i loved being able to tell my mom i wanted to watch magic school bus for science, or "i saw this from bill nye i want to do it" and doing that, and THAT being part of school. So much better sounding than sitting in a building for 8 hours of day studying for stupid tests on topics i do not care about.
- Try not to be biased on topics. Seems weird, to let you kid believe a "lie" like, global warming, jesus, capitalism, government types, etc... Explain topics with facts and allow your kid to ask questions and answer with facts. You may give you thought and idea, but if you allow them to QUESTION your beliefs and how the world works, their own brain will work. In my case my parents were mega hardcare right wing christians. By the age of 11 i pretty much saw how stupid some of their ideas where, but we all respected it.
- Free thinking mind will do wonders compared to a brain washed one :)
pros/cons, and all the cons CAN be avoided with planning
+ Very well educated, i was taught to fish
+ Lots of free creative time
+ Learned lots of info that will help me the rest of my life
- Lack of social life
- No girlfriend interactions until i was in my 20s
- Socially abnormal and took a long time to fix...
- Life structure can easily be changed daily. I think kids need SOMETHING.