I know they say that hs'ers tend to have better test scores than ps'ed dc, but I've been noticing that my dc's teenage friends---for the most part-----probably would NOT score well on any test.

I wish I could copy and paste any number of emails my dds have received from hs'ed friends of theirs! The spelling is shocking, and the sentence construction is terrible.

We received a handwritten note lately from an early 20s year old man who had always been homeschooled. Seriously, the handwriting looked like a 2nd grader! NO JOKE! <sad>

I know some other really crazy situations with hs'ers I know IRL that I am too embarrassed to type out here.

What gives???? I don't think these families mean to do a poor job. I see a lot of these dc as being the product of a frazzled mom with little time to invest in "school".

I'm a little worried about my own dc. I know I'm not giving them what they would get in a more structured environment and that bothers me. I try. Some of my dc complain about "school" and don't try that hard. It's compounded when their friends aren't getting the schooling they ought to be having!!

I feel you'd see quite a bit of this problem in the public school kiddos also. It all boils down to the dumbing down of America which has been so prevalent the last 25 years. It also is an acceptance of a text language that has few, if any, rules of grammar.

Why would anyone give it their all if it is not expected? In our attempt to make politically correct classrooms and texts where everyone is equal, we can only move ahead as fast as the slowest student. So naturally, only the slow kiddos will get attention. The rest of all students are getting the message, "hurry up and wait, don't go on ahead".

In our own homes, we must not fall victim to outside distractions. Our homes do not have to be perfectly clean, if it means our kiddos get the wrong message. We signed up for this fitful job as a homeschool mom. It should take total priority during certain hours of the day. Without a learning disability, there's no reason why a homeschool kiddo should not be able to write a grammatically perfect friendly letter.

Now what I've said is fine in theory. It is even fine for those of us with tiny families. But when you get in the large families, an entirely different set of rules apply. There has to be a hierarchy of teaching where mom dispenses teaching to some of the olders who then are responsible for passing down the teaching to the youngers, I would imagine.

If you are worried about a couple of your kiddos, Miss Mayberry, is there a way to focus on those kiddos and let them or others teach your little ones? It is much more difficult to teach the nuances of upper level language arts than it is to teach a 6 year old to read and add, for example. While it may seem prudent to have mom teaching the fundamentals, mom (or your smartest kiddos) are probably needed more with the older kiddos.

But, Miss Mayberry, you're the expert on these larger family schooling problems. I find it quite disturbing that you've even hit a roadblock. LOL! It's kind of like the favorite preacher who stops in the middle of his sermon and says, "I just don't know, what do y'all think?" I guess I hold you on a higher pedestal, a super human one, than the rest of us. Sorry about that.

Let us know how this pans out.

I know.

This is always a touchy subject. I guess my own view is that we must be careful not to abuse the freedom we have to educate our children at home. With that freedom comes the weight of responsibility, and while we are certainly a joyous family here. . .I take it very seriously.

In the long run, we really must be careful when we look at a homeschooled teen or adult and think, "Wow - this person doesn't even know the basics!" It could be that we are looking at someone with a true learning disability. Or it could be that their particular family didn't emphasize academics in the way we might.

While all are made in the image of God, not everyone has the same abilities and talents. In spite of years of trying, not everyone will spell correctly or be great at math.

For my own family, all I can do is keep my hand to the plow. For us, that means actually being home and homeschooling when we should be. Working diligently, and not sacrificing the best for the merely good in terms of priorities.
Jen

I have seen this in a couple of homeschool parents. I will say that the majority of my friends do an excellent job homeschooling and their kids are doing great.
In one case, I think the mom is overwhelmed with a lot of kids of close ages. There is little structure or limits in the home in general and so homeschooling of course reflects that as well as does their behavior. In the other case, there is only one child but I think it is a case of the mom not being realistic in how she views her child. The child can do no wrong in her eyes and all of what the child does is fabulous, even though it would appear quite 'behind' if you were to look at it realistically. She also doesn't even attempt to do anything the child doesn't want to do, which is almost everything, so as a result the child has quite limited and narrow interests. She doesn't even try to make new topics interesting to engage the child but just assumes that the child won't be interested.----------

I have noticed this also in a handful of homeschooling families I have met. Homeschooling has increased at an amazing pace, and when more families are added into the mix I think it is inevitable that there will be a greater spectrum of levels of achievement.

I think so many moms try to fit so much in, that the basics sometimes fall to the wayside. I know this year I have really tried to move back to doing the core subjects well.

This is just my opinion of course..
Stacey

I see the extremes - being completely hands off and pushing your kids too hard so they get burned out. What concerns me is when I see these women just frazzled beyond belief, with many, many kids, trying to keep up with the Joneses in terms of curriculum, lifestyle, food, activities. It just gets to be too much. I feel that, as homeschoolers, we have proven that what we do works academically. But I do wonder if this will set that issue back a bit.

It's disheartning that some parents do not care about the education of their children, whether in ps or hs. I think we are just seeing that trickle down into homeschool more now as homeschool becomes more popular.
It bugs me to see some parents who "homeschool" just because they don't want to deal with the public school, but don't take it seriously. I saw the same thing when my children were in public school though, some parents could care less how their child did.
In ps my children were A students, but it took effort. I made sure they did their homework. If they brought home low grades in a subject I met with their teacher and discussed what could be going on. I made sure they were at school and not missing every other day. I decided to homeschool because I realized that academically, they could do better at home, and also have Godly character training that they were NOT recieving at ps. Because of my involvement is ps with my child, I saw how lacking the system was.
For me it was easier to just hs and skip the middle man of public school.

IMO, both hs or ps can be successful if the parents are involved and concerned, and doing what they can to help the dc.

I do want to add that emails and handwritten notes are for the most part casual, and can't really be judged by quality. I do not edit my posts usually, but just type quickly what my thoughts are. I hope no one judges my intelligence by that. This is a message board and I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm sure emails and the such from friends have the same mind set. Most of the time I'm online while I'm nursing my 10 month old, so my concentration is not at top peak.

An issue I see with kids these days is texting! I think it encourages misspelling because you are always looking for a quick way to type your message, and that can form habits!
(hey, r u comn to my hse 2day) would be a good example.