Any Unschoolers here who ditched that method?

[mjantz]

Please tell me how homeschooling helps with a person's athletic career?

My daughter is starting to consider a career in ballet (she's been taking classes since she was 3). Many dancers after a certain point decide to homeschool because it can be difficult to attend a traditional public or private school (with their 8-3 schedule) & get in the hours necessary to be successful when auditioning for companies or colleges or competing in competitions (NOT 'Dance Moms' type competitions/serious ballet competitions that let one be seen by potential colleges and companies).

I have to say that when my daughter started public K I never would of thought that several years later we'd be considering homeschooling. We still have about 2 years probably before we decide but I know it will be here before I know it.

 

[NY Disney fan]

But one doesn't have to "unschool" or even home school to teach those basic skills. That is the role parents have always played.

Very true but today's parents are all about academic achievement over life skills.

 

[declansdad]

My daughter is starting to consider a career in ballet (she's been taking classes since she was 3). Many dancers after a certain point decide to homeschool because it can be difficult to attend a traditional public or private school (with their 8-3 schedule) & get in the hours necessary to be successful when auditioning for companies or colleges or competing in competitions (NOT 'Dance Moms' type competitions/serious ballet competitions that let one be seen by potential colleges and companies).

I have to say that when my daughter started public K I never would of thought that several years later we'd be considering homeschooling. We still have about 2 years probably before we decide but I know it will be here before I know it.

Just curious, don't many dancers consider some type of performing arts school?

 

[princessmom29]

Very true but today's parents are all about academic achievement over life skills.

I think many parents go overboard in one direction or the other, but that most seek a balance between the two. I know that is true in my house. School is important no question, but family time, dance, chores, ect are all important as well. Kids really need to learn how to balance it all to be sucessful.

 

[mjantz]

Just curious, don't many dancers consider some type of performing arts school?

It depends on the path a dancer wants to take & whether or not the resources are available in the area. In this area (I live in the Dallas/Ft Worth area) the best ballet schools (not just dance but those with a strong ballet focus) are either independent studios or attached to professional companies. There are a couple of performing arts schools but from what I've seen there's more of a focus on modern or jazz style dancing & we want/need ballet.

You can send your kid 'away' to some residential programs. Harid Conservatory in Florida is just one I'm aware of. Normally they are high schools & the kids have class in the AM & dance after lunch into the evenings.

Honestly I'm still investigating all of our options. My daughter will probably start competing in a few years & that may have a profound effect on the path her 'career' (if she is lucky enough to have one) takes.

 

[cornflake]

But one doesn't have to "unschool" or even home school to teach those basic skills. That is the role parents have always played. Mine gave me chores so I knew how to sweep or vacuum or clean a bathroom. I helped with laundry so I knew how to do it on my own. I helped prepare (or when I was in my later teens I made the meal entirely) dinner and engaged in other cooking activities so I knew how to cook. I emptied the dishwasher, fed the animals..etc. It's a basic part of parenting to teach your children "life skills" like sweeping, laundry, cooking..etc and the type of education they receive (public/private school, home school, unschool) should play no role in a child developing those skills.

I've seen that type of thing from a lot of unschooling and homeschooling parents (not here, on other forums where I've seen a lot of those families posting), and I've never gotten that either.

There's a lot of 'we take our kids to the museum!' 'we took our kids for a walk and discussed why leaves change colour and collected leaves!' 'we got our little kid a science kid and do experiments!' 'our X year old already knows about Y!' as if that stuff doesn't happen in other families. My parents sent me to school, and yet did every one of those things with me, regularly.

I used to be given sentences to correct as little kid busywork; I had a whole leaf collection kit; I had numerous science kits; I had my own little microscope and terrorized everyone around me taking samples of various cells - most of this stuff was done looong before it was ever addressed in school. In my world, my parents were not at all unusual. I know there are many parents who aren't involved and etc., but plenty, especially those who value education, are. That behaviour is normal to many people, hence science kits and all exist to be sold to kids.

I don't know where the idea comes from that parents who send their kids to school don't do that on top of schooling or that it somehow substitutes for schooling. We did entirely other experiments in science class in school - and had to work together and discuss the different possible outcomes and things that would cause them and etc., etc., etc. that I didn't have to do at home.

Like I said, I know there are parents who don't know, don't have the time and/or funds or etc., but plenty of parents do as a matter of course AND send their kids to school.

 

[declansdad]

It depends on the path a dancer wants to take & whether or not the resources are available in the area. In this area (I live in the Dallas/Ft Worth area) the best ballet schools (not just dance but those with a strong ballet focus) are either independent studios or attached to professional companies. There are a couple of performing arts schools but from what I've seen there's more of a focus on modern or jazz style dancing & we want/need ballet.

You can send your kid 'away' to some residential programs. Harid Conservatory in Florida is just one I'm aware of. Normally they are high schools & the kids have class in the AM & dance after lunch into the evenings.

Honestly I'm still investigating all of our options. My daughter will probably start competing in a few years & that may have a profound effect on the path her 'career' (if she is lucky enough to have one) takes.

Interesting, thanks

 

[badblackpug]

I wasn't so much referring to the online lego club - though I do think that's an awesome experience that I didn't have the opportunity for in public school - I'm more referring to the fact that my 5 year old is exposed to concepts way beyond her grade level and she retains so much more of it than I would've thought possible. In addition to that, my 10 year old learns the patience required to work with a 5 year old and they both get to experience a close sibling bond. And before I get jumped on, I'm not saying that public schooled siblings can't have a close bond. I'm saying that in my personal experience - opposite sex siblings with a wide age gap are generally not close at all and homeschooling affords the opportunity for them to be much closer than they would be if they were at school all day.

All of those things are very important to me and may not be important to others, which is fine.

...and I will refute that. I, and my children, all went/go to public school (gasp! and horror!) There is a 5 year age gap between my brother and I, there is a 7 year age gap between my son and daughter. I was an advanced reader. I read every single book my brother brought home from school throughout school. I have 4 kids. The older 2 (10 and 14) go to public school. The 3 year old goes to a private pre-school, but that is only because our district doesn't have pre-school. My 10 year old comes home and explains all his school stuff to his younger sister. How much of it she "gets" I don't know, but she is definitely exposed to it.

 

[cornflake]

It depends on the path a dancer wants to take & whether or not the resources are available in the area. In this area (I live in the Dallas/Ft Worth area) the best ballet schools (not just dance but those with a strong ballet focus) are either independent studios or attached to professional companies. There are a couple of performing arts schools but from what I've seen there's more of a focus on modern or jazz style dancing & we want/need ballet.

You can send your kid 'away' to some residential programs. Harid Conservatory in Florida is just one I'm aware of. Normally they are high schools & the kids have class in the AM & dance after lunch into the evenings.

Honestly I'm still investigating all of our options. My daughter will probably start competing in a few years & that may have a profound effect on the path her 'career' (if she is lucky enough to have one) takes.

I've never heard of homeschooling for ballet, but I live in an area with company schools, so I suppose serious people just go there. Not suggesting you're wrong, I assume you're doing what people do in your area, just saying I read the original post and went 'eh?'

How old is your daughter? Has she done any summer company programs?

 

[jodifla]

I've seen that type of thing from a lot of unschooling and homeschooling parents (not here, on other forums where I've seen a lot of those families posting), and I've never gotten that either.

There's a lot of 'we take our kids to the museum!' 'we took our kids for a walk and discussed why leaves change colour and collected leaves!' 'we got our little kid a science kid and do experiments!' 'our X year old already knows about Y!' as if that stuff doesn't happen in other families. My parents sent me to school, and yet did every one of those things with me, regularly.

I used to be given sentences to correct as little kid busywork; I had a whole leaf collection kit; I had numerous science kits; I had my own little microscope and terrorized everyone around me taking samples of various cells - most of this stuff was done looong before it was ever addressed in school. In my world, my parents were not at all unusual. I know there are many parents who aren't involved and etc., but plenty, especially those who value education, are. That behaviour is normal to many people, hence science kits and all exist to be sold to kids.

I don't know where the idea comes from that parents who send their kids to school don't do that on top of schooling or that it somehow substitutes for schooling. We did entirely other experiments in science class in school - and had to work together and discuss the different possible outcomes and things that would cause them and etc., etc., etc. that I didn't have to do at home.

Like I said, I know there are parents who don't know, don't have the time and/or funds or etc., but plenty of parents do as a matter of course AND send their kids to school.

Very true!

 

[mjantz]

She's done local summer programs but hasn't gone away yet. She's 11.

Just as you read my post & went 'eh?' I'm reading yours with the same thought. Even the big company school (not residential) has homeschoolers who are doing it for ballet. In this area it's not uncommon after a certain point in their dance schooling.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

I've seen that type of thing from a lot of unschooling and homeschooling parents (not here, on other forums where I've seen a lot of those families posting), and I've never gotten that either.

There's a lot of 'we take our kids to the museum!' 'we took our kids for a walk and discussed why leaves change colour and collected leaves!' 'we got our little kid a science kid and do experiments!' 'our X year old already knows about Y!' as if that stuff doesn't happen in other families. My parents sent me to school, and yet did every one of those things with me, regularly.

I used to be given sentences to correct as little kid busywork; I had a whole leaf collection kit; I had numerous science kits; I had my own little microscope and terrorized everyone around me taking samples of various cells - most of this stuff was done looong before it was ever addressed in school. In my world, my parents were not at all unusual. I know there are many parents who aren't involved and etc., but plenty, especially those who value education, are. That behaviour is normal to many people, hence science kits and all exist to be sold to kids.

I don't know where the idea comes from that parents who send their kids to school don't do that on top of schooling or that it somehow substitutes for schooling. We did entirely other experiments in science class in school - and had to work together and discuss the different possible outcomes and things that would cause them and etc., etc., etc. that I didn't have to do at home.

Like I said, I know there are parents who don't know, don't have the time and/or funds or etc., but plenty of parents do as a matter of course AND send their kids to school.

If homeschoolers feel there is bias towards them (and there no doubt is from certain people), they should be aware that very frequently (including repeatedly thoughout this thread) many homeschoolers come off as exceptionally holier-than-thou condescendents.

My DD6 does all the things that the homeschooled kids do (as listed in this thread), plus more that I have not yet seen referenced, and she's in public school (which is stunning to me, because I expected to send her to private school, but where we live the public school is better).

Involved parenting is the variable that must be controlled, in my opinion.

And lastly, I'd be a TERRIBLE teacher to my children, and I have two terminal degrees, so it's a darn good thing that I'm not a homeschooler!

 

[mjantz]

Involved parenting is definitely a huge variable in success. I've had very educated parents who obviously didn't do much outside of the classroom and parents without a HS diploma who helped their kids make strides I would not have believed possible at the first of the school year.

 

[Momvic5]

...and I will refute that. I, and my children, all went/go to public school (gasp! and horror!) There is a 5 year age gap between my brother and I, there is a 7 year age gap between my son and daughter. I was an advanced reader. I read every single book my brother brought home from school throughout school. I have 4 kids. The older 2 (10 and 14) go to public school. The 3 year old goes to a private pre-school, but that is only because our district doesn't have pre-school. My 10 year old comes home and explains all his school stuff to his younger sister. How much of it she "gets" I don't know, but she is definitely exposed to it.

I have a ds15 who is a sophomore in public school, and a dd12 and a ds10 who are homeschooled (pick your side and then gasp and scream in horror! - I get judgement from both sides). My dd12 loves to look at my ds15's work and compare hers to it. It thrills her to be able to do her brother's work; however, this is more of a personality thing on her part. Now that she is older, she is more aware of how many people perceive homeschoolers, and she likes to prove them wrong! My ds10, on the other hand, doesn't want to do his own work much less hear or look at someone else's work!

 

[cornflake]

She's done local summer programs but hasn't gone away yet. She's 11.

Just as you read my post & went 'eh?' I'm reading yours with the same thought. Even the big company school (not residential) has homeschoolers who are doing it for ballet. In this area it's not uncommon after a certain point in their dance schooling.

Huh, weirdness. I don't think that's at all common here, at least it's not among people I've known who were seriously involved in dance. I just looked at the pre-pro division of one of one of the company schools here and it's all after school and says on it it's designed to accomodate schooling. The oldest division (15-18) does start earlier, at 2:30, but it'd still work with many schools.

Maybe it's that kids here tend toward more company-bound than competition bound? I mean I know there's crossover and some company-focused do do some of the big competitions but that's not really common, especially earlier, as far as I know, among dancers I've known - I know someone who has always been involved in ballet and has had dancers billeting with them to attend a company school (and academic school).

Dunno, just interesting that it seems different within the one genre.

 

[Coconut36]

If homeschoolers feel there is bias towards them (and there no doubt is from certain people), they should be aware that very frequently (including repeatedly thoughout this thread) many homeschoolers come off as exceptionally holier-than-thou condescendents.

My DD6 does all the things that the homeschooled kids do (as listed in this thread), plus more that I have not yet seen referenced, and she's in public school (which is stunning to me, because I expected to send her to private school, but where we live the public school is better).

Involved parenting is the variable that must be controlled, in my opinion.

And lastly, I'd be a TERRIBLE teacher to my children, and I have two terminal degrees, so it's a darn good thing that I'm not a homeschooler!

Very well said and I totally agree especially with the bold portions. Involved parenting is critical to successful education. It's astounding how parental involvement is non existent for many and how often it drops off as the child gets older.

 

[Coconut36]

Huh, weirdness. I don't think that's at all common here, at least it's not among people I've known who were seriously involved in dance. I just looked at the pre-pro division of one of one of the company schools here and it's all after school and says on it it's designed to accomodate schooling. The oldest division (15-18) does start earlier, at 2:30, but it'd still work with many schools.

Maybe it's that kids here tend toward more company-bound than competition bound? I mean I know there's crossover and some company-focused do do some of the big competitions but that's not really common, especially earlier, as far as I know, among dancers I've known - I know someone who has always been involved in ballet and has had dancers billeting with them to attend a company school (and academic school).

Dunno, just interesting that it seems different within the one genre.

Not common here either that I know of. I spent a lot of time in ballet..my 2nd school was the school that feeds into Ballet Arizona but the classes were most certainly geared to accommodate academic schooling/classes even in the advanced levels. Same goes with recital practices and so on.

I just looked up my old school classes and even the pre professional level has classes no earlier than 4pm and has class options on Saturday as well. No classes during common school hours at all.

 

[sukhakuli]

I haven't read all the replies, just some, but if the OP is really looking for unschooling horror stories, there are plenty of them. Can we mention other forums here? Because there is one that is a doozy. And they seem oblivious that their kids are basically illiterate. There is one that sticks out to me about a woman who made up her ds's high school transcripts based on his video gaming that was pretty shocking. She gave him all A's, of course. I'd c/p, but I am unsure if it's allowed here, but there's a lot of instances on that board of serious educational neglect. I think my favorite part was that she gave him credits in debate for arguing with her so much. Classic.

I'm not anti-homeschooling at all. I choose to send my kids to public school, but I have a friend who has a teaching degree with a masters in special ed and she homeschools their kids, and does a great job. She is clearly qualified. I have a BS in Psych, so I am not qualified, lol. I'm a bit of a disorganized mess, truth be told, but I think homeschooled kids can get a great education. They wouldn't be able to get it from me, though. Unschooling, however, isn't something I agree with. Some kids may pursue academic interests, but I think the real strength of a taught curriculum is that they are forced to learn things they are not interested in as well. In high school, I had zero interest in any math or chemistry, and if left to my own, I'd be able to add and subtract and that's about it. But thanks to public school forcing me to sit through classes I hated, I have a basic understanding of things I would never learn on my own. And some things that I thought I would hate and would never teach myself, like physics, I learned are pretty interesting after I was forced to take a class. And as such, deeper learning is something I have pursued on my own.

 

[badblackpug]

I have a ds15 who is a sophomore in public school, and a dd12 and a ds10 who are homeschooled (pick your side and then gasp and scream in horror! - I get judgement from both sides). My dd12 loves to look at my ds15's work and compare hers to it. It thrills her to be able to do her brother's work; however, this is more of a personality thing on her part. Now that she is older, she is more aware of how many people perceive homeschoolers, and she likes to prove them wrong! My ds10, on the other hand, doesn't want to do his own work much less hear or look at someone else's work!

My gasp was aimed toward the poster I quoted because he/she seems to have a real issue with brick and mortar schools. I think you have to do what is best for your (general you) kids. As I stated in a previous post, I really don't care how anyone educates their children, as long as their children get educated. I send my kids to public school because 1) the public schools in my area are better than the private schools, which are, by the way, all religiously affiliated. 2) There is no doubt in my mind that I am not capable of educating my children (I would never admit this in front of my son, but he is smarter than me)

Just as there are misconceptions about homeschooled kids, there are also misconceptions about public schooled kids, it's really a 2 lane road.

As I said before, the real tragedy her is the fact that the OP's friends 9 year old can't read. Barring any neurological or developmental issues, there is absolutely no excuse for this, regardless of what type of schooling the child is receiving.

 

[skater]

Obviously, we're all going to believe our choice is better - and perhaps it is for our own children. I believe there are pros and cons to all choices. My kids have thrived with homeschooling. I think it was the best choice for them by far, but I don't go around judging other people for choosing public or private schools. I'm just thankful that I am able to homeschool. If you all want your kids to go to hell in a handbasket, that's on you - totally kidding . I love it that we live in a country with the freedom to make those choices for our own families. I am actually somewhat excited about my middle child going to high school next year - I can't wait to compare it to what I've done at home with my oldest. I will also be a little nervous - because I do belive homeschooling is better for us. I hope to be proved wrong .