Do you have any questions you would like to ask Homeschool graduates? If so please post here. I'm going to be doing a series of interviews at my jr. College, with 3 students who were home schooled and I will also answer the questions and I'm compiling a list of what parents would like to know about HS alumni. Want to know what curriculum's we used or would've prefered to use and why? What we really think about our Homeschool experience? If we like/appreciate Bible based curriculum's? Want to hear what mistakes our parents made (that we may or may not ever tell them about)? Want to hear whether our parents did a good job in certain areas? What we would have done differently? Whether we will home school our kids or not and why? Whether we regret being home schooled or didn't like the style/model/approach that our parents used with us? Wonder how our parents tackled HS graduation, or how many years we home schooled? What ever you want know, I will do my best to get my Home school friends to answer, truthfully.
Oh I had completely forgotten about this post. I've now chatted with 10+ HS students in college but haven't been able to formally interview all of them. It's crazy getting something as simple as a few polls filled out. A few general comments I have: Want to know what curriculum's we used or would've prefered to use and why? --Two people used a mix of just generic Public School books for their reading and math assignment. So did my parents with me. (Thats 3 confirmed) 1 persons family switched a lot with everything, but stuck with Saxon math and didn't really do Algebra at all. 3 people were part of Virtual or umbrella schools. I can't say what everyone did off the top of my head, but these are the cases that I remember clearly. Almost everybody knows the floor plan of one branch of the library at least. What we really think about our Homeschool experience? The feelings are really mixed on this one. These are some sentiments that at least 3 people have expressed during our conversations. They: a) didn't enjoy homeschooling during the time that they were homeschooled but appreciated it because it was what they needed. b) Felt isolated and lonely alot, because they weren't apart of the Homeschooling group and had no real sense of Homeschoolers as a community. I am in this group. I didn't even know there was a Homeschoolers group growing up. c) Loved homeschooling and wished they could do it some more. d) Enjoyed homeschooling but felt relieved to be 'away from it.' One girl said she felt HomeSchool had been bad for her because her whole family are naturally home-bodies and they didn't get out much AT ALL. She really struggled with the adjustment and just being around so many people. Almost everyone said that they felt over all, HomeSchooling has been positive and let a lot of the students I questioned feel they have some individuality. We all think we stand up to Peer pressure better than our PS friends/peers. If we like/appreciate [Religion] based curriculum's?** I stopped asking about feelings on this one because of a debate it opened up that ran kind of hot and it takes a while to get to know someone well enough for me to feel comfortable asking this question. 2 people said that they didn't care at the time, but felt that being homeschooled with so many Biblically based programs allowed them to develop tunnel vision of the world. 1 of these 2 people said that they don't really feel comfortable so much around other faiths and cultures because they are so deeply Southern American Christian, that they just can't relate to anything else. My mother was very strict and forced us (usually just my sister and I) to read a lot of religious literature and it was a sore point for me for a long time and when I was a teen I had no intention to be a Muslim in my adult life. So no, I didn't appreciate my parents forcing their religious priorities on me in the way that they did, but I think I was planning to rebel against them and less the faith. Once I took the time to read the Quran for myself and reflect and do a lot of soul searching, I find peace within myself and strength in the teachings of the Quran. 1 Young man said he knew when he was 9 that he wasn't a Christian anymore and he felt that his parents were trying to force it on him. When he talked to his parents at 13/14 yrs old about his faith and beliefs they weren't understanding, they got a Christian Studies program and a bible for him instead. He's waiting for his 18th birthday. Want to hear what mistakes our parents made (that we may or may not ever tell them about)? This one surprised me, but I have had a few students say that they felt their parents homeschooled them for selfish reasons. One girl said her parents were really erratic with everything and she hated constantly changing stuff all the time. Two people got in trouble in PS and had to be homeschooled so they felt guilty almost everyday that they were home because their teaching parent were often openly resentful. Want to hear whether our parents did a good job in certain areas? Mostly everyone loved the reading and family activities. Others felt like the dad of the family was lazy because mom and kids had to cook, clean, run the house. Dad just worked and criticized or did something 1 time a month or less with the kids and their school. What we would have done differently? Had more fun is on the top of the list, but the again, we're 16-23 years old on a college campus, what do you expect us to say? Spent more time on trouble subjects or approached trouble subjects differently than the rest of the curriculum. (One boy couldn't really read until 7th grade, it was such a problem his mom didn't push him until around that time. He said it would've been easier if she had just laid down the law on him at 8 or 9 and had him work a little everyday, rather than fighting sporadically with one book for a whole week and getting no where.) I feel the same way about math. A lot, but not ALL, of us feel that our Math education was stunted, because we only really went as far with math as our parents could guide us. I learned basic Algebra from Algebra from Dummies, so what do you wan't me to say, lol. I'm HORRIBLE at math, but currently taking PreCalculus and Trigonometry. I'm failing both classes, but my grades are coming up. A lot of the young adults I was talking to, said that Math will be easier in the future because of DVD's and Software that can teach the child and possibly the parents. The young man I took College Algebra with said he's going to learn the material so that he can help his own children, (he wants to homeschool his kids himself, not that his wife do it.) Whether we will home school our kids or not and why? Oddly, I think almost 7/10 people said YES. Girls are looking forward to being Teach moms already, I'm glad I'm not alone. Many of us feel that we can do a better job than our parents did too. (No, offense you all are all so great!) Oh and one guy laughed and said: "My mom will be heart broken if I dont. I think she's looking forward to me having kids who were just like me. I was a monster in Elementary, but I was better in Middle school" and he laughed. I laugh everytime I remember that. Whether we regret being home schooled or didn't like the style/model/approach that our parents used with us? I don't regret being homeschooled, but personally the style/approach that my parents used, I feel wasn't very beneficial and the fact that they stuck to it so long was counter productive... Most of the other Alumni I spoke to didn't know what "Methods" were, those who did Charlotte Mason had heard of her, but not Montessori or Classical and vice versa. It seems like most of the people I spoke to didn't follow an approach, it was more like School at home. A lot of the Alumni I spoke to say they would homeschool but in in the same way. They said they'd do more research than their parents had done if they chose to do it with their kids, because of one reason or another. I noticed that the Young men want their kids homeschooled, and the young woman are sometimes on the fence about it. I think they know who will be doing all that Homeschooling..... Oh, and a lot of our Teachers can tell that we've been home schooled. I"m not 100% sure how they know, but they know. We can also seem to 'sense' one another. I knew a girl for like a month and we'd never talked about our education prior to college. One day, I just asked her how long she home schooled, and she burst out laughing, saying she had wanted to ask me the same question. I found out later that she was a straight A student . Wonder how our parents tackled HS graduation, or how many years we home schooled? Those who went through umbrella schools graduated through them, but some of them sounded like they had weird transcript/recording obligations that I don't know much about. Most of the people I spoke to got, or were getting GED's. A few people had gotten diplomas I think from their parents. I got a GED, so did my older siblings who were homeschooled. In our state, a GED is a HighSchool Diploma. **I originally included this question because I'd met a young woman who'd attended a private Christian or Catholic school and she didn't know what a Muslim was. Said she'd never heard of it. I should've said "Religous based" curriculum, as I'm not a Christian. I'll probably never get any nice numbers and neat little percentages for everyone, just because I'm a little too lazy and so many of the students are graduating or have transferred already to bigger schools.
