My mom and dad deciced to homeschool me and my brother and two little sisters.It is difficult sometimes because so many people don't think kids should be homeschooled. My parents thought it would be better for us to be homeschooled becuse now kids are having sex and ,in schools now most kids are dealing out of the lockers. I just turned 16 years old and I am fixing to graduate this year. Some people tell my mom that her kids are not getting a social life and that they are going to be stupid by the time they do graduate. My mom tells them all the time they must not be to stupid because my son graduated last year and he was 16, and my daughter just turned 16 and she is graduating this year. I would rather be homeschooled than go to a public school cause the fact is I get more up close with my learning, I also have more hands on experince with things. At a public school they tell you how to do once then they go sit down and when you get up to get help with it they will get mad. I am so proud of myself because I have pushed myself to do the things that I am doing.I am trying right now I'm trying to find the perfect collage for me!
Life as a Homeschooler
By deelinda - Posted on February 18th, 2009
It's great that you were home schooled i guess and it's nice your so comfortable about it. Personally I like public school, and I never did drugs or had promiscuous sex (and guess what I don't believe in God, paradox much?) but don't think that it's the most terrible corrupt thing because it isn't. I participated in class, and i answered questions, built models, and all that fun stuff. They don't "Get Mad" when you participate, and if they do that's because they aren't a very good teacher.
I just wanted to say congratulations on graduating at 16, I myself am turning 18 and I'm graduating from High School and getting ready to go to my college.
So good luck and I'm glad you are doing well with Home Schooling.
Hi, it seems you're new here, and as such are probably unfamiliar with the culture that is ProgressiveU.
You probably already know that this site is intended for students nearing high school graduation or in college. What you might not know, however, is that, because of this intended demographic, both the staff (moderators) and the users of the site have come to expect certain things from everyone that posts on ProU (yes, even the staff).
First and foremost, writers are expected, for the most part, to have college-level (or near college-level) writing skills. This especially includes proper grammar and spelling.
Not only is good writing expected here, but it is expected in the workplace and (for those just starting college) the classroom. I've heard many people respond with something akin to "this isn't English class!" and they are right, this isn't an English class, but people tend to lose respect for a poorly-edited writing, regardless of what the writer has to say. So, while we can't force you to write well, we do encourage you to, and remind you that you will gain a better following if you do.
Now, this doesn't mean your writing needs to be perfect. The readers here can spot the difference between someone who has tried and someone who hasn't, and a mistake or two is often ignored, but if a writing is riddled with mistakes, it will often be the author who is ignored. Many writers find it helpful to read their work aloud, or at least writing their blogs in a word processor (such as Microsoft Word) and using its Spell Check feature, prior to posting.
As I mentioned earlier, poor writing (because of lack of effort) will often get the author ignored. Why is this? Because the author comes off as less intelligent or otherwise not worth the reader's time. A writer could have come up with the solution to end world hunger, but if s/he can't articulate it in a well-written manner, s/he will lose a significant amount of credibility and respect.
Take, for example, the topic of this blog entry you've posted. You have a good idea -- debunking some common myths of homeschooling. However, your writing errors do little to back up your words, and, more likely, are working against you.
For example, you say:
Some people tell my mom that her kids are not getting a social life and that they are going to be stupid by the time they do graduate.
But, because you have a number of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes ("collage" instead of "college" at the end of your entry, a number of time where spacing is off, and other things that would have been caught if you had read over your entry before posting), your readers will think that what you have to say means absolutely nothing, especially if you can't even spell properly.
Secondly, while our word minimum is only 200 words, we encourage everyone to elaborate on their ideas. Doing so not only results in getting more reads, but will also provide readers more on which to comment (which, if you're here for the scholarship, means better chances at winning). Most of the more experienced writers here find it easy to write pages worth of content, and many of them, upon looking back, realize that the more they wrote, the more they were able to write.
We also highly encourage everyone to back up any claims they make that are not (or may not) be "common knowledge" (ie - it's common knowledge that the sky is blue), especially if they are potentially controversial.
For example, you wrote:
My parents thought it would be better for us to be homeschooled becuse now kids are having sex and ,in schools now most kids are dealing out of the lockers.
Where did you hear these claims? Have you ever gone to a "traditional" school? Do you have studies to back up the allegations?
You also wrote:
At a public school they tell you how to do once then they go sit down and when you get up to get help with it they will get mad.
Again, have you ever been in a public school? If so, elaborate more on the time(s) that this happened to you or a classmate. If not, where are you getting this claim?
As one who went to public school my whole life, I can tell you that my experience was significantly different. In fact, it was encouraged, in the vast majority of cases, to seek help from your classmates, or even the teacher.
Not only will providing the answers to these questions (and more!) allow you to create a better and longer blog entry, but it will also help you avoid having your readers ask you them (and let me tell you, they aren't always nice about it, especially if you make claims that regard aspects of their lives).
By all means, keep writing. The only way to get better is to keep writing. Practice makes perfect. Just remember your audience and their expectations.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
"My parents thought it would be better for us to be homeschooled{home schooled] becuse [spelled "because"] now kids are having sex [delete this "and ," ] in schools now most kids are dealing out of the lockers. I just turned 16 years old and I am fixing to graduate this year."
Don't you think this is a bit of a generalization? Not every single student is doin' drugs and having sex in school. In fact, it's not even necessarily a majority in most schools that I know of. You make it sound like High School is some big drugged up orgy.
"Some people tell my mom that her kids are not getting a social life and that they are going to be stupid by the time they do graduate."
You don't do anything to disprove this claim. From my perspective, a home schooler would have a harder time finding opportunities to socialize outside the home.
"At a public school they tell you
how to do once then they go sit down and when you get up to get help with it they will get mad."
Generalizing. This is like painting the Mona Lisa with only a red crayon. I mean I've had some wonderful teachers. Teachers are supposed to like their students getting involved and caring about class. Were you ever in public school?
I agree with dragonwolf's comment above and I think you should read it over carefully. When other bloggers/staff of ProgU point out errors and give suggestions, it's not to be mean. It's to help.
For example, with your numerous misspellings and issues in your blog, it surely doesn't seem like you're a 16-year-old proving you're smart enough to be finishing high school-level work already. It kinda disproves your whole theory on the effectiveness of home schooling, to tell the absolute truth.
It kinda disproves your whole theory on the effectiveness of home schooling, to tell the absolute truth.
When I first read this blog, that was my first reaction and my second thought was that it was a spoof written by someone hostile to home-schooling to discredit that particular educational process. I'm still not convinced that it was not.
I imagine the truth is that there are good public schools and bad public schools and good public school students and bad public school students, and that the same range of possibilities applies to home schools and home school students.
One poor home school student does not necessarily prove anything about the effectiveness of homeschooling any more than one successful student out of an inner city public school proves that those schools are succeeding. You have to look at the average outcome and you also need to look at the extremes to see if bright kids are being held back or slower kids are being left behind in inordinate numbers.
It is completely possible in my view that this blogger's parents did an exceptional job given the raw material they were working with (I am not saying that is the case). It is also completely possible that they did a miserable job and the result was that a bright kid has been handicapped with an inferior education.
There are plenty of kids graduating from public school that are functionally illiterate and this blogger, while he needs some remedial English, is a long ways from that. Who is to say that he would not be in much worse educational shape if he had attended the local public school? Maybe yes and maybe no. One student doesn't prove anything.
Hey! Welcome to ProU! I, too, am a 16yo home schooled student who is graduating this year. :) I'll be 17 by the time I get to college this fall, though. I'm planning on attending Christendom College (christendom.edu) in Front Royal, VA. It's an awesome Catholic college and I totally can't wait!!! Feel free to PM me any time. :)
RESPECT LIFE
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"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa