Are your homeschooled kids missing out?

One of the answer posts had this to say:

"I'm sure there are problems in public/private educations, but homeschooled kids miss out on:

The first day of school
The LAST day of school
"Graduating" to the next grade
A schedule
Lunch Hour
Recess
Christmas break, spring break, summer break and the first day back from these breaks
First crush, first kiss
Coming home from school
Passing notes
Making the honor roll
Going to dentention
Going to school with the same kids & building friendships EVERY DAY
Learning to become a part of something that isn't your church/family/homeschool group.
Struggling long division who are also struggling with long division
Feeling embarassment
Being away from your mom/siblings for more than 1 or 2 hours.
I'm not sure about this, so I'll post a question -- but learning about 'STUFF -- Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther King, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Art, Music, Sports. "

Would anyone like to respond to this?
I'll post my answer soon!

2008-01-22T10:39:41Z

" the fun and socialization of the cafeteria will be missed"

Our local K-4 school district has silent lunches - and all the kids sit in assigned seats with the same 25 kids they are in class with all day. Good times, good times...

Colo_Mom2008-01-21T20:19:34Z

Favorite Answer

The first day of school - we have a first day of school.
The LAST day of school - we have a last day of school.
"Graduating" to the next grade - who cares about this? We go on when we're ready to go on.
A schedule - oh my gosh, without an externally imposed schedule how would we live?! (sarcasm)
Lunch Hour - We eat lunch. We eat multiple snacks. We drink water when we want. We use the bathroom when we need to! Duh!
Recess - More recess than hard stuff a lot of days.
Christmas break, spring break, summer break and the first day back from these breaks - We usually take all of these, so that my kids can do stuff with their friends who have to follow a public or private school schedule.
First crush, first kiss - They don't live in a bubble - they don't miss out on these things!
Coming home from school - They don't have to miss out on this because they're already there.
Passing notes - My kids pass notes and invitations to each other. My oldest text messages and IMs her friends. So?
Making the honor roll - not worried about it.
Going to dentention - Since when are we "missing out" if we don't go to detention. I don't think detention hall involves lots of fun music and dancing like in "Hairspray"!
Going to school with the same kids & building friendships EVERY DAY - My kids are building friendships with the same kids every day. Their siblings, neighbors, etc.
Learning to become a part of something that isn't your church/family/homeschool group. - Girl Scouts, 4H, lessons, community service, etc. etc.
Struggling long division who are also struggling with long division - who cares?
Feeling embarassment - sorry, but my kids have all of the same feelings as any other kids, including embarassment.
Being away from your mom/siblings for more than 1 or 2 hours. - All of my kids have been away from me for sleepovers, playdates, and all of the normal things without me or their siblings. Not just with other home-schooling families, but with neighborhood friends and other schooled friends. The oldest has done Scouting Camp and county fair.
I'm not sure about this, so I'll post a question -- but learning about 'STUFF -- Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther King, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Art, Music, Sports. "
My kids learn about all of these things - we decorate for Halloween and go to parties or trick-or-treating, make Valentines, do art projects, sports etc. - all of these!

Oh, I couldn't answer any better than Bearich! Some of the things that homeschooled kids miss out on are the very reasons we're homeschooling!

renee704662008-01-22T16:04:27Z

Figured I would give my point of view here as a home school mom who went to public school.
First and last day: We have a picnic with the HEA there are over 200 families belonging to this group.
"Graduating" to the next grade: Big deal! My kids couldn't care because they know next year the work will be harder
Schedule: We live on one or nothing would ever get done.
Lunch hour: aka popularity contest? My kids were required to sit and be silent. Wow so much fun there!
Recess is a must to keep me sane.
School holidays: How are they missing those? My kids take all the same breaks public school kids do plus any other day I chose to let them out
First Crush and kiss: my kids are 9, 5 and 20 months those things will come in time.
Home from school: and into 4 hours of home work Yeah something to look forward to
Passing notes: what kid in CO-OP doesn't do that?
Detention: Oh yeah I missed that one myself and did just fine
Going to school with the same kids: until you move
Learning more than a Church group/family/ HS group: those are better influences than the public schooled kids
Struggling w/ long division: if they are struggling that means they don't get it and you may have to choose a curriculum that they can understand.
Embarrassment: my daughter has no problem embarrassing herself
And the holidays you mention they learn about those and even participate in the celebrations

I don't think they are missing too much.

cowgirl_kate1212008-01-21T19:45:53Z

I think I take too much pleasure in answering this question...

The first day of school - I always had a first day of school when I was homeschooled. My mom had us do an "About Me" sheet with our "favorites", it was cool to see our tastes change every year.

The LAST day of school - No duh I had a last day of school! It was what we all looked forward to!

"Graduating" to the next grade - that happened every summer, we moved up a grade

A schedule - if we didn't have a schedule, nothing would ever have gotten done!

Lunch Hour - I ate lunch every day, it was mandatory

Recess - I had recess pretty much whenever I wanted for as long as I wanted. Much better than my public school counterparts who didn't even get recess.

Christmas break, spring break, summer break and the first day back from these breaks - I had all those breaks (and still do) and all those first day back.

First crush, first kiss - I had a couple crushes and I was homeschooled. First kiss on the other hand, I'm still waiting for...

Coming home from school - Yeah, I guess homeschoolers do miss out on that

Passing notes - That still happens, as long as there's more than one kid being homeschooled (my sister and I always passed notes)

Making the honor roll - Well, I guess homeschoolers are on their own honor roll

Going to dentention - Oh yeah!? What about when you misbehave during "school time"?

Going to school with the same kids & building friendships EVERY DAY - I hung out with the same kids everyday and built friendships, I just didn't spend time sitting in a classroom with them.

Learning to become a part of something that isn't your church/family/homeschool group. - Like those things aren't important? Anyway, homeschoolers are involved in other groups, too!

Struggling long division who are also struggling with long division - No, I struggled with my friends.

Feeling embarassment - Embarrassment was a daily occurance for me (still is, really).

Being away from your mom/siblings for more than 1 or 2 hours. - I went to Mexico and winter camps, I guess those don't count?

I'm not sure about this, so I'll post a question -- but learning about 'STUFF -- Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther King, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Art, Music, Sports. " - I learned about all that stuff and more...probably more than my public schooled friends.

So much more I could say to each of these statements, but I don't want to vent too much tonight. But really, homeschoolers don't miss out on anything! We rock!

njroadie22008-01-21T17:54:57Z

· The first day of school
All of the homeschooling families we know meet up for ice cream and a not back to school party at the local park.

· The LAST day of school
We have a big celebration and go out to eat, to an amusement park and have a campfire with our homeschooling friends.
· "Graduating" to the next grade
We do the above and put together our portfolio of what cool things we did and studied that year.
· A schedule
You should see my calendar! The schedule changes every day, so my kids learn to manage their time, without having a bell ringing – just like in the real world !
· Lunch Hour
We have great lunches at our house, but we often go out and meet friends at the park too.
· Recess
We have lots of playtime with friends, jumping rope, playing hopscotch and other childhood games like spy and tag. All the schools around here have no recess, isn’t that sad?
· Christmas break, spring break, summer break and the first day back from these breaks
We take breaks any time we want, and yes, getting back to work can be brutal!
· First crush, first kiss
???? What, homeschooled kids can’t have crushes? Tell my 9 year old that, would you?
Coming home from school
They miss out on this. Darn

· Passing notes
Never seen a Homeschool class have you?? LOL
· Making the honor roll
Miss out on this too.
· Going to detention
No, and I never had to go either, really scarred me for life I tell ya.
· Going to school with the same kids & building friendships EVERY DAY
Yeah, cause that builds diversity! Give me a break. My kids have long standing friendships based on similar interests, across wide age ranges. They have learned early that you have to work to keep a friend, it isn’t just a convenience of who sits near you in class.
· Learning to become a part of something that isn't your church/family/homeschool group.
Yeah, because those things, they don’t matter at all, it has to be a CLASS, united by birth year!
· Struggling long division who are also struggling with long division
??? You assume again that they never engage in any type of group learning situation.
· Feeling embarrassment
Yeah, cause that can only happen in school. (I wish!)
· Being away from your mom/siblings for more than 1 or 2 hours.
So that overnight camp, what is that? Has to be school to count, eh?
· I'm not sure about this, so I'll post a question -- but learning about 'STUFF -- Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther King, Halloween, Va
??? We learn about all sorts of things, not just American history but World history. As opposed to my public schooled counterparts, who know nothing but American history (oh, and they spent an entire YEAR learning about our state’s history… but know nothing about the entire Eastern Hemisphere - ??)


You know not of what you speak, that much is obvious!

socalmal2008-01-23T00:29:46Z

Of all the things to mention missing by being homeschooled: the lunch hour. That is the thing we will never miss. I am sure it's different at most schools, but similar enough: first of all, it is NEVER an hour, you have to get in and out so the next group gets theirs. Get in a LONG line, watch the kids who brought their lunch and didn't forget to bring it to the lunch area because if you did you weren't allowed to go back and get yours once you're in the herd, they run to the best tables, you have to get charged (or sent to the office to call your parents for money) for a box or tray with a little over-processed, yucky tasting in-edibles and if you're lucky, the milk that your parents paid for, then be forced to swat at flying insects on the warm days where you eat outside, or lose your hearing on the cold ones where you are crammed into the cafeteria/multipurpose room, and hope no one asks you for the one food item you do want to eat because you're starving from the lack of nutrition but chose the so called "hot lunch" because it was cool or you'd be made fun of for eating REAL food. If you throw a bully or two, or perhaps a wicked food worker into the scenario, it gets real memorable....oh joy.

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