Schooling

[Redwaller]

UI have to go with Public school.  I'm really proud of my public schooling.  I feel like one of the most important parts of my education was learning from dozens of different and amazing teachers.  I believe that is the essence of a well-rounded education.  If I had only learned from my parents I feel I'd be a much less open-minded, less accepting person. 

I disagree, why would you be less open minded because your parents taught you? Homeschooling rocks.

[Flandor]

Because I was exposed to so many different kinds of people and ways of thinking.  My parents are wonderful and very smart but I'm glad I got to learn from so many different people.  It wasnt meant as a jab at homeschooling, it's just my personal experience.  

I suppose my wording could have been better.  My point was that I learned more than I ever could of from just my folks.  My parents have not travelled the world, they cannot play ten instruments, they do not speak several foreign languages, they are not experts in mathematics, they do not have degrees in physics and other sciences, etc etc.   I know I could have learned from them and books at home, but I feel I gained a much richer experience through public school.

[Redwallfan7]

Public school didn't work out for me. I'm not putting your opinion down, though. I guess everyone has different views and that's okay.

[Flandor]

Public school didn't work out for me. I'm not putting your opinion down, though. I guess everyone has different views and that's okay.

It's very understandable that public school isn't for everyone.  Everyone should be able to learn wherever it's best for them.  I had to drop out of college because it wasn't working out for me. 

[MatthiasMan]

That stinks. I want to go to college and all that but I don't want to go to junior high at school. I bet homeschooling DOES rock.

[Bragoon]

It depends on what you want to learn too.  You learn about a wider range of things in public schools, but some of those things may not be what you're interested in learning, and they don't teach other things in public schools at all.  

I think it's wonderful that there are talented people teaching public schools.  For my part, I personally know a woman who can play many instruments, and has a Masters is musical arts.  She teaches me piano, which is the only instrument I'm willing to put time into to play well.  
I take Russian using Rosetta Stone, but there's no substitute for a native speaker or someone who has many years of local experience, so I plan to move to taking college-level Russian classes once I'm finished with the Rosetta Stone program, and I personally know a Russian lady who moved to America to teach at a university twenty years ago.  
My mathematics program is suitable for teaching me what I need to know, to a point  where my dad can't help me anymore, because he never studied this level of Algebra in public school.  
Science is a weaker point for me, because I don't know anyone close by who can help me with that sort of thing.  However, a family I know in Virginia has a grandfather who works for a university in the science labs, and he teaches them.  
History is no problem, since all there is to History is reading books and writing the odd paper.  Reading's never been a problem for me.
As for English, a lady who used to teach English classes live down the street from me, and she teaches homeschoolers now that she's married and has a child.
And boy howdy, I can promise you on anything that you like that I'm one of the best darn Home Ec. students in the whole wide world.  

Still, the single most important part to me of the homeschooling process is that in not one public school will you find a class that will assign you Christian literature.  Books written by the likes of C.S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are a part of  what I read week by week.

On my end of year test for this last year, I scored higher than 90% of students in nearly every subject.  


I agree with the assumption that most public-schoolers get a wider range of teachers and views than I as a homeschooler do, but I'm not interested in an education where I learn from many people.  I want a good education, and one in which I learn truth, not perspective.  

[Flandor]

I think any way you slice it, it comes down to what you take from your education and what you do with it.  I know public schoolers who don't learn much, and I know public schoolers who are brilliant and fine examples of scholars.  I often catch flack from people for dropping out of college, but I spend my time when not working learning and reading and trying to better myself.  I work hard and also value education.  Dropping out of college did not change that.

So I guess what I will say is that though your education is influenced by the kind of schooling you receive and the encouragement you have from teachers and your parents, in the end it mostly comes down to how much you want to learn and achieve and what you are willing to do to get there!

[Skyblade]

I have always gone to a public school. It's got its ups and downs; I guess it's good overall.

Can't say much for homeschool in that regards but I've heard great things about it around the forum. If I ever have kids I would consider homeschooling them.

[Mhera]

The last time I hung out a lot with public schoolers (which admittedly wasn't a ton, just six or so hours of classes a week for two one month), I ended up helping them with their trig homework while they discussed their experiences with marijuana and other such subjects. While we got along surprisingly well, I came away with a new appreciation for homeschooling I do realize that not all schools are as bad as the ones in my area, though (thankfully).

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Yeah, I went to public school for my Kindergarten-3rd Grade Year. K-2nd Grade I went to this Private/Public school in Louisiana, which today is still one of my favorite schools. Since fourth grade I have been at this very small Private School (Only 250 tops). The Public schools around are quite bad, especially the students. I had to go there to take the ACT, *Shivers* those 3 stories can give you the creeps. So yeah, I like my school, and I could never Homeschool. Home is where I am way too lazy to do anything, so a whole day of school would be a disaster.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

I've always been to a private school. The first non-kindergarten school I went became trashy and horrible after the founder died. Luckily, the kids there were friendly and I didn't get bullied until in 6th grade when a teacher started to pick on me when my mom gave some feedback. :/ But now I'm out of there and in another much better school now, and about to move to the next grade there, so that rocks.
Also, here in Singapore, public schools (Or local schools as we call them here.) are affordable and generally pretty good, I've never been in one, but they're supposed to be excellent.

[CaptainRocktree]

I'm technically "Homeschooled". But in the area I live in homeschooling is different  . Its not just at home all day sitting at your desk all day doing school (That would be hard for me), In my life I'm out of the house all week taking classes at many different places with my friends. I could give you the whole run down but I'd just bore you with details  .

[Hickory]

I go to a private school.

[Vilu Daskar]

Home

[Wylder Treejumper]

I've been all of the above. Each has it's pros and cons, each is more useful at different stages in life, and how good a type of school is depends on the person. I currently attend public school. it's rough sometimes, but I get through it pretty much unscathed. Kids that don't have as strong an upbringing as me tend to get into trouble (Welcome to High School: Although the only thing high about it is the kids smoking pot in the bathrooms). Going to a public school for some of elementary school and middle school was probably the best thing that ever happened to me socially- but it started to get iffy around 8th grade. And while I enjoy homeschooling immensely, you may sacrifice some opportunities available at public/private schools (I could never give up my violin, for instance), and it may get to a point where it is difficult to self-educate (it's hard to learn calculus from a textbook).