I want to start off by saying that I have nothing against Homeschooling. I was public schooled and it worked for me and I think that I will probably public school my children, but I have seen Homeschooling work really well (there are also times that it can be extremely damaging though, so I don't want to ignore that too).

I did, however, want to address this comment:

1st Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.'"

It's a lovely verse, but be careful about the extent to which you take it. The Bible is very clear, we MUST obey the call to evangelize. In many cases, we MUST develop meaningful relationships with non-Christians or they will never get to see the gift of life with Christ.

In every public school I've seen, there is almost nothing but bad company and bad morals.

This is kind of insulting. Most non-christians at my school were still good company. Some were certainly not, but most were nice kids. "Nothing but" bad morals is just not true. School encourages being drug free, working hard, sharing, being self-less, valuing/respecting others, a whole host of wonderful things.
Your idea that Christian children are unable to think for themselves is also somewhat problematic. I thought just how my parents taught me as a young child. You obviously did too. I went through Public school and I'm proud to say that I watched some peers choose various ways of life and I chose Christ.

Again, I know this is the homeschooling thread, but I wanted to be the answering voice in a sea of homeschooled people to say that Public school is not evil and a not hotbed of bad morals. It is a mix of all ideals and ways of life and I saw them all and I chose what I knew to be true.

I don't think that public school is evil. I have several Christian friends who went to public school and I don't think that they are weaker in their faith because of it. And about the call to evangelism, school isn't the only place for that. I don't know whether I mentioned this before or not, but there was one time in one homeschool group when they required some sort of pledge that you were a Christian before you could join, and my mom didn't like it because she said it cut off opportunities to evangelize. I agree that it is important to spread the gospel, but I wouldn't say that school is the only place that young people can spread it. I went on a church youth mission trip a couple years ago, and before that my older brother had gone on several of them. So you have to look for opportunities. And some people can be affected more strongly by the influences around them for evil, more than they are affecting others for good, though I'm sure there are many people who aren't. But not everyone is so strong in their faith. I've known very nice schooled kids. I've also known some really annoying homeschooled kids. School may be right for some people, but I don't think it is for everyone.

And there are so many opportunities that open up when school isn't limited to seven or eight hours a day in a classroom--jobs, apprenticeships, self-directed learning,

Wow, so much is being said its like overwhelming!!

Mother-Music, no offense, but you must have picked terrible curriculum and homeschooling program if it was that bad. I have been homeshcooled all my life, and we use a wonderful program called CLASS (Christian Liberty Academy School System), they have wonderful curriculum and their program is great. You can look them up if you'd like. Also, some very good friends of ours use Bob Jones, and that is also a great program, though it is more restricted. I am sure there are also more programs and curriculum that is great. Such as Saxon, A Beka Book, etc.

Kate, I understand the point you are making, but the Bible also says that we should choose our friends carefully. You can still make relationships with non Christians even if you don't go to school. But you should choose the people that you have meaningful relationships with also. And like I said, you don't have to go to school in order to do that.

With the way some people are talking on this thread it seems like they think that because you don't go to school you can't meet unbelievers. That is absolutely ridiculous. Just because you don't go to school every day doesn't mean you don't interact with unbelievers. You could interact with them such as a job, getting involved with your church, etc.

Ditto Lady Haleth!

I think you missed the point of their posts.

Wow, there's a lot of different things going on here which I won't even try to touch on. But I'll post my take on homeschooling.

For those of you who don't know, (which will probably be all of you ) I was homeschooled my entire life up until tenth grade and on, which was when we switched to a private Christian school.
My mom homeschooled all ten of my siblings (my five older siblings graduated from her system). The first couple of years, she basically came up with her own curriculum. After that, we used CLASS, which is basically a mix of Bob Jones, ABeka, Saxon, and their own curriculum. We also did a TON of reading, (there was a time when all of us were obsessed with World Book Encyclopedias... ) and at least the beginning stages of piano.

Now we are in a Christian school where we basically use almost the same curriculum.

Here are my thoughts on the pros and cons, at least for our system:

Pros:
1. A very individual, flexible system. We did most of our work from eight to twelve in the morning. That was kind of awesome. Plus, our mom could add any random courses she wanted to add, or take a random week off here and there.
2. Christian worldview- Most home school curriculums have a heavy focus on God. You don't have to learn the whole evolution/sex ed junk. This is one of the main reasons my mom homeschooled.
3. Removing bad influences/peer pressure.
4. Enhanced reading skills- As I mentioned before, my mom strongly encouraged us to read. I was reading 500 page books from the time I was ten. And believe me, it has helped. I have excellent reading comprehension and study skills. Plus, I learned a lot of history, geography, etc., that a normal curriculum wouldn't extensively cover. (I can name the monarchs of England from Henry VII to Elizabeth II, for example) And my vocabulary is a lot broader.

Cons:
1. Impaired social skills-- This was a problem that most homsechoolers may not deal with. But since we went to a small church, and didn't have all that much contact with people other than church people and family, I think homeschooling hurt us in this aspect. When I came to our present church, I didn't know how to make friends because I had literally grown up with my very few friends at my old church. It wasn't like I was rude, or whatever, but I honestly didn't know how to start talking to a random stranger and become friends. For almost a year and a half I let people take advantage of me because I was so afraid they wouldn't like me anymore if I didn't get their refills/wipe up the lunch table/etc. Now, of course, I'm fine, but it was really hard when I first came.
2. Lack of competition- This was a big one for me. I made decent grades in homeschool, but add a bunch of other kids taking the same test and possibly making the same grade as I would, and I promptly started making straight A’s.
3. Lack of extracurricular stuff (organized sports, band, etc.)— I wish I would have had the opportunity to play volleyball and play in band before tenth grade. And my older brothers, who were really good at basketball never had the chance to play on a real team, and that’s a con for me.
4. Lack of a strict schedule- I know I listed a relaxed schedule as a pro, but this one really is a double sided sword. Since my mom was teaching so many of us at a time, she sometimes didn’t have the time to make sure we were all working as hard or as fast as we should have been. This meant that about a month or two from the end of the school year, we were all in a mad rush trying to finish on time. I remember one year taking two tests a day and doing two Saxon lessons trying to catch up. Not fun. :S
5. Lack of a specialized teacher—Don’t get me wrong, my mom was an awesome teacher, but she could only help us so much once we got up to Advanced Math and Chemistry, etc. And if she didn’t know how to do something and the books didn’t explain it well enough, well… we were in trouble.

Well, I guess that’s about it. I understand that a lot of these points won’t relate to some people. For example, I know there are a lot of homeschool clubs and such that would make a lot of these issues almost disappear. But this is how it affected us.

Wow, this is a really long post.

I was homeschooled all the way up, and very glad that I was. I don't think I was secluded at all, because I was also in a lot of other programs like girl scouts and church youth groups, plus I was in two homeschooling clubs where a bunch of homeschoolers got together and met eachother. It was amazing. I would completely recommend homeschooling to anyone, as long as they have other places where they can make friends.
Being homeschooled allowed me to focus on the actual schoolwork at the time I was supposed to. A lot of my friends got bad grades, because, at the time they should have been studying, they were worrying about social drama in their school/class.
But when you're homeschooled, your studies and your social life are separated. You still have both of them, just at different times. Which, in my opinion works best. But it probably varies with each person. I've met a lot of people who were very glad they went to public school, too.

Hello everyone:

Sorry I disappeared! I am a mom, a widowed mom, still homeschooling and also working. So sometimes leisure activities like posting here fall off the radar.

Thanks to those who recommended CLASS, ACE, Bob Jones, A Beka, yadda.

Those are the curricula to which I was referring when I mentioned "mainline" Christian home school curricula. I have been home schooling for many years...my oldest is 27 now and my youngest is 13. So I've had plenty of time to investigate or use/abuse all of those publishers.

As I mentioned before, my perspective changed when I, myself, returned to school. Once I had been exposed to secular curricula for a time, and then returned to looking for curricula for my children for the fall, I realized how inept, educationally disorganized, and stuck in the 18th century a lot of the curricula is.

Particularly in foreign language study. Other subjects are bad, too, but this one is the poster-child.

I agree that it is a good thing to write a textbook from a Christian worldview. BUT, it is also important to write it with good educational theory and organization.

Have you ever wondered, if the Christian home school curriculum is so good, why is it that secular schools aren't clamoring to have the Christian worldview removed from the curricula so that it can be used in a secular classroom?

Yeah. I thought so.

Christian home school curriculum is sorry.

Some wit mentioned in another venue that "I object to this remark very strongly. I doubt the curriculum publishers you describe have any remorse at all for what they have done."

I agree.

mm

I am a homeschool student.
However, I've experienced both private school and public school as well.
I have found that the alternative of homeschooling is a much more edifying, maturing, and challenging choice. My grades were good before homeschooling. I was a straight A student. And I still am. However, there is lot more time for the teacher to work individually with the student in homeschooling. My mom is single, and has a part time job. Yet, I still feel like I can work with her personally if I'm struggling in an area. I now can learn in the areas I used to just kinda, ignore.
Also, the pressure you have in a public school to do things that are morally wrong, is incredibly high. I'm not saying anyone should bury themselves away from the world. But, a person develops who they are during their first 18 years of living. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children; not the state's, nor a youth's peers. Unfortunately, this is often what occurs in a private/public school setting.
Lastly, I believe that America has lowered the standered for families. What happened to the close-knit bond that used to be the norm in families? Homeschooling should be about more than just school. You should take advantage of the time together. Learn about each other, connect with each other, and help each other.
There, now I answered a simple question with a complicated answer. Haha!

Lastly, I believe that America has lowered the standered for families. What happened to the close-knit bond that used to be the norm in families? Homeschooling should be about more than just school. You should take advantage of the time together. Learn about each other, connect with each other, and help each other.

I just wanted to ditto this. Especially in the face of our reliance on technology for communication: we are losing something precious about face-to-face communication, not just within families but everywhere. I don't have anything against technology and the uses of it, but we should be careful that we do not lean on it so much that we lose the desire and capability to live in true, face-to-face community.

mm

Technology is a two edged sword...the easier our lives get the dumber we tend to become. I see kids in 12 years of high school who can't identify where Mexico is or couldn't tell you who bombed Pearl Harbor and I get more than a little worried. But they can whip out a Blackberry and send out text messages like nobody's business. I see schools loaded with computers and yet students can't figure out basic geography or history? It's kind of scary...

I think you have a point there Shadowlander. I'm an Australian and I knew those facts in primary (elementary) school! We need to remember to not let our technological sciences get ahead of our ability to understand them and be responsible with them. That's not to say we ever will fully because we live in a fallen world, but we should be learning how to get along with our families and the people around us.

I'm Homeshooled!!!

Yay for you SparkyTheHappyGiraffe!!!!! So am I!!!

I am going into 12th grade this year! *cowers in fear* ack! it's both awesome (because it's my last year!) and terrifying because it's a big year for me! but from what my mom is saying it might be fun!

Just a reminder, folks, to please make sure you add to the discussion, as we're sure each of you have good thoughts to continue a full and interesting conversation here.