Comment by volkk
4 days ago
why can't homeschooling involve the same attributes? genuine question. from what i've been seeing in modern trends, homeschooling doesn't literally mean you sit and your mother teaches you all day and then you "go home" by migrating to your bedroom. you're still in a small group with other children, all of whom likely still share characteristics where disagreements will naturally happen, and cooperation will need to occur to move forward. the way I see homeschooling is simply a parallel to the traditional public school path, but in smaller, more focused groups with a far more controlled environment. not seeing how this is inherently bad
> far more controlled environment
They risk being able to function better in highly controlled environments with other kids that share the same background as them. Not optimal.
they risk being totally unprepared for less controlled environments later in life when it's harder to change habits, like in uni or in the workplace.
> less controlled environments later in life when it's harder to change habits, like in uni or in the workplace.
You're right on pointing out the environments in which homeschoolers often perform poorly, but you used the wrong word. Homeschoolers are bad at more controlled environments, where you must work within the confines of bureaucratic systems run by people who didn't design them. Timesheets, changing place when the bell rings, studying only what's on the test and reproducing at the correct time, speaking differently to people based on how much authority they hold over you according to a system of record--that is difficult for people who are used to a lot of freedom in terms of how they spend their time, and how they interact with other people.
yeah i see the argument, and its an important skillset to be able to deal with chaos/bullies but this other part of me wonders whether dealing with bullying early on is healthy at all?
to be clear, i do believe that tough personalities that aren't straight up bullying can still happen inside of a group homeschooled environment.
Bullying seems to be a phenomenon almost exclusive to children. Adults don't mess with each other as much for various reasons, not least of which is that adults have more options to deal with the problem.
I think the way to handle socializing kids if you homeschool is to enroll them in extracurricular activities where they can meet all kinds of people. If the activity is a good one, you'll still probably avoid the worst types that appear in public schools, and give the kids more exposure to different kinds of people. And if it doesn't work for some reason, you can switch activities or groups more easily than you could ever switch schools.
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