Ask a Homeschooler

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(Another ex-homeschooler here!)

in austria, the homeschooled need to take exams in every subject in public schools to, well, get actual certificates with actual marks. you know,the stuff you have to show your potential employers over and over for the rest of your life.

apparently nothing of that kind exists in the usa, so what the hell do the homeschooled have to show for job applications?
Well, in most states you do have to take some sort of standardized testing every year or so. As for what you should employers....well, it's sort of weird and a bit haphazard, I think. But I'm not sure terribly how much it matters, as most jobs are either basic enough that you don't have to have a great deal of schooling to do them (Hello McDonalds!) or you need a degree in order to do it, in which case the degree from an accredited institution is enough to show that you got a fine education earlier on.

As for how you get into those institutions (And lots of homeschooled kids go to college, and not just to religious schools -- I'm going to a state university) it seems to depend. Generally you have to turn in some sort of transcript with what subjects you studied and your grades, as well as SAT scores. Lots of kids do the community college route to prove that they're at least basically competent. That's pretty much what I did, and it worked out just fine. There are plenty of people, and states, and programs, that require a lot more regulation than that. But a lot of the time it really is that...haphazard. Which, honestly, does seem a little bit frightening, but mostly seems to work out OK. I'm not aware of any evidence showing that homeschooled kids are any less likely to have jobs or degrees than regular-schooled kids.

And while my curriculum was partially Bible based, it wasn't entirely so, and it tended to shift around from year to year. My mother has some sort of degree in child education, as well.

I'm sure this is quite bizarre to many of you, especially those from overseas, but it really does seem to turn out OK. (I certainly have! Although whether I've turned our better or worse than if I went to a regular public school, I have no idea, and can't prove either way)
 
Repeating this, but opening it to all of the homeschoolers:

I'm particularly interested in how the math curriculum develops for homeschooled kids. Do you learn standard high-school level math, like trig/algebra II/analytic geometry/calculus?

Is it common to supplement your math education by taking College Algebra-type classes at a local community college?
 
Repeating this, but opening it to all of the homeschoolers:

I'm particularly interested in how the math curriculum develops for homeschooled kids. Do you learn standard high-school level math, like trig/algebra II/analytic geometry/calculus?

Is it common to supplement your math education by taking College Algebra-type classes at a local community college?

I learned arithmetic type math from books my parents got me and they helped me when I got confused. I took Algebra I from a college student who did a twice a week class at the Library I took with two other homeschooled kids. Then I took Geometry and Algebra II online so basically I taught myself but my Dad helped me whenever I needed it.
Then in Community College (I was a full time student and technically graduated but I was 17 so I think of it as my last year of high school before going to a real college) I took Trigonometry and Calculus I.
Of course in college I've taken a lot more: Calc II, Calc III, Probability, Intro Stat, Math Stat, Foundations of Math, Analysis I, Number Theory, Linear Algebra, and Computer Assisted Problem Solving.
None of those ever really gave me trouble (got a B in Calc I though:( ), so I think my homeschool math preparation was sufficient. The biggest jump for me was from Community College where I skated through Calc I, to college where I had to bust my ass in Calc II, but I did that (with lots of tutoring in the free lab and got an A there and have been fine since).

@Homeschooled:
What about foreign languages? Do you learn any new languages, and if so, which ones?
No, but I really never wanted to, I can count to 10 in Japanese and Korean but I learned that from martial arts. My little brother is learning Spanish though, he started with Rosetta Stone, but now he's moved on to an actual class.
 
Repeating this, but opening it to all of the homeschoolers:

I'm particularly interested in how the math curriculum develops for homeschooled kids. Do you learn standard high-school level math, like trig/algebra II/analytic geometry/calculus?

Is it common to supplement your math education by taking College Algebra-type classes at a local community college?
We learn standard high-school level math just like everyone else.
@Homeschooled:
What about foreign languages? Do you learn any new languages, and if so, which ones?
We take language courses like any other High School student.
 
We take language cources like any other High School student.
How? Isn't the point of being homeschooled that you do not have school teachers to teach you? I.e. your parents or some kind of independent teacher would have to teach you a language they know?
 
How can you discredit 3 millennia of human development and knowledge? what goes through your mind when you hear about for instance Galileo?
 
As a homeschooler, I studied from books my mom bought me - but there was no religious focus whatsoever. She was a teacher, and believed that our school system is not a place that can constructively raise kids into adults. I agree with her after careful study. After 8th grade though(which I actually skipped because Mom has no patience for a review year) I was signed up into American School, a correspondence high school. We did this because it was one of the only non-religious ones around. I've taken Psychology, Biology, Algebra, Writing Skills courses - I have Physics, Geometry and French all coming as well. Once I get near the end of my high school courses, I'll be heading to a community college like my brother Nukeknockout. After that it's full college, just like a normal person ;)

Socially, I had problems for a long time. However, this is because my house is in the *** in of nowhere, and I know NO ONE in this town of 350 with no traffic lights. And I'm not joking with that statement. A year ago I started Tae Kwon Do classes in Chesterfield, 45 minutes away from my house, and that's really changed me. I'm the equal of anyone I know in conversation - in fact, at the risk of sounding pompous, 15-year old me is capable of soundly thrashing full-on adults in arguments. Mainly those are of the religious variety - the homeschooling community around me is packed with fundamentalist Christians, and their insistence on "saving" me from agnosticism(which I chose myself OVER my Catholic family's path) grates. It's ironic that I have little patience for them, seeing as they're a significant percentage of homeschoolers. But this isn't a religious thread.

In short, I'm your average 15-year old, perhaps a little more then that. I feel like homeschooling hasn't wronged me in any way - I've never been bullied, and all I say to any who attempts now - after I've taken up TKD - is good luck, sucker. I've also been able to chase my book without the pressures of school over me. I've also learned a scientific and logical perspective on the world and everything, meaning I have little patience for illogical beliefs and unsustainable arguments. And intolerance. Oh yes, intolerance is the one thing that I'm intolerant of;) And those of you who've spotted my Political Compass test results know I'm a VERY far left person. Which makes me odd for a homeschooler.

Ask away! I'm here 'till Thursday!:p

-L
 
I too wonder how you can learn a new language from a teacher who is not fluent in that language?

Then again I took two years of spanish and hardly learned a thing other than how to conjugate verbs on paper and properly pronounce Vs and LLs.
 
Yes we do.

Seeing as this is a question about the religiosity of the United States, my question is: Do you or your parents actually know the constitution or the Bill of Rights.?

The United States is specifically founded as a secular state which gives no fear nor favour to one religionm over another.
 
I too am a homeschooler. I will answer a couple questions from the beginning.

Are you by yourself when you're homeschooled, or in a group?

Mostly by myself, I do take two classes at the local high school. In short, I am a hybrid. I take Biology and French at the high school.

why are you homeschooled?
My parents would rather have control of my education.

Do you trust your parents to give an equal or better education than your would receive in either public or private schooling?
Yes. I have no problem trusting them to do that.

Do you have any sorts of problems with social interaction, such as with girls?
None whatsoever. I take a couple classes outside of the home, one for homeschoolers, two in a public school, and I play in a Youth Orchestra (percussion). I talk to girls all the time and am comfortable with them, and most of them seem comfortable with me. As long as I don't make any moves or anything.

Have you ever had to deal with the problem of bullying? Of cliques? Or of peer pressure?

I used to be in public school, and I was kinda the weird kid with glasses, who had few friends and was on the outside of the "cool" circle. But that was in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. I am in 10th grade now, and I have enough friends and interaction.

I too wonder how you can learn a new language from a teacher who is not fluent in that language?

Then again I took two years of spanish and hardly learned a thing other than how to conjugate verbs on paper and properly pronounce Vs and LLs.

I take French at a high school from a teacher who went to college in France. My mother took a year of Spanish, which was sufficient enough for her to teach me an Intro course.
 
DrumStudent said:
Yes. I have no problem trusting them to do that.
Why do you believe so, outside of the fact that they are your parents?
 
How do you feel you're basic knowledge compares to that of public school students at you're comprehension level (smartness) and age?
 
Oh yeah I've a second question: Is there no inspectorate system to ensure that you are being educated properly, and that you are actually being taught what you need to know, and not propoganda?

Because if I were ruler and was considering instituting a homeschool programme that's the first thing I'd do.
 
Ofhome, the body that regulates and certificates home-schooling environments? :D
 
How do you feel you're basic knowledge compares to that of public school students at you're comprehension level (smartness) and age?

I feel like it's a lot larger. Well, not that I'm "smarter" per se, but that I'm better suited to use my intelligence and knowledge . . . which makes a lot of people say I'm smart.

Oh yeah I've a second question: Is there no inspectorate system to ensure that you are being educated properly, and that you are actually being taught what you need to know, and not propoganda?

Because if I were ruler and was considering instituting a homeschool programme that's the first thing I'd do.

I take CAT tests annually that are mailed to my home.

-L
 
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