Socialization can be provided by adequate after-school and sports-related activities, so the socialization aspect can be overcome, generally with relative ease if the parents have the will and inclination to address it. It's also often more productive socialization as such activities focus on team-building and goal-oriented activities rather than the free-form associations that occur on playgrounds and can get kids into trouble.
The cultural vocabulary, I'm inclined to believe wouldn't be a huge issue. You access a fair amount of it through contact with those who do go to school and through television, books and other cultural-indoctrination practices.
My concern with home-schooling is your second point. The viewpoints available to your child are more limited if they are restricted to your values and beliefs. It can be harder for them to acknowledge alternate points of view. My other big concern is the quality of education. I have known several people who were homeschooled who thought it was the greatest dis-service their parents ever did to them. They found, when they came to go on to higher-education, that they had vast holes in their knowledge, that they had not recieved enought of a background in subjects that were not their parents' strengths, or that their work-ethic or expectations were not at a level where they were able to transition with any degree of comfort.
I agree... done well, homeschooling can be a valuable and enriching experience. However, like many things, I think that only certain people will be able to bring such an experience to a positive conclusion. I think there are many people out there who try to homeschool who just don't have the education,training, or habits of mind that will allow their children to succeed and flourish in that type of environment.
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Date: 2006-08-16 07:39 pm (UTC)The cultural vocabulary, I'm inclined to believe wouldn't be a huge issue. You access a fair amount of it through contact with those who do go to school and through television, books and other cultural-indoctrination practices.
My concern with home-schooling is your second point. The viewpoints available to your child are more limited if they are restricted to your values and beliefs. It can be harder for them to acknowledge alternate points of view. My other big concern is the quality of education. I have known several people who were homeschooled who thought it was the greatest dis-service their parents ever did to them. They found, when they came to go on to higher-education, that they had vast holes in their knowledge, that they had not recieved enought of a background in subjects that were not their parents' strengths, or that their work-ethic or expectations were not at a level where they were able to transition with any degree of comfort.
I agree... done well, homeschooling can be a valuable and enriching experience. However, like many things, I think that only certain people will be able to bring such an experience to a positive conclusion. I think there are many people out there who try to homeschool who just don't have the education,training, or habits of mind that will allow their children to succeed and flourish in that type of environment.