Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments What happens after home schooling for PG kids?

I think that most of us don't know enough homeschooling families to draw any kind of statistically significant conclusions. The homeschooling families I know for the most part are families who either homeschool for religious reasons or because they simply want to avoid having their kids get lost in large classrooms where they receive less personalized attention. One of my friends homeschooled her dd in one grade simply because she didn't like the teacher that year. I've taught religious ed weekly to third graders for more years than I can count and my students have included quite a few homeschooled children - most of whom were well-behaved polite high performing students compared to my other students. I can't draw any conclusions about homeschoolers in general from those I know but instead think that perhaps that for many of us who aren't homeschooling families, the hs families we have contact with most likely have something in common with our own families hence we see one particular group of homeschoolers and not a broad spectrum.

polarbear

Lucounu,

I'll track them down for you. It was posted a while back on one of the gifted blogs. I'm thinking the article was in the Washington Post? Anyway, I'll find it..

Lucouno,
This is an article about it. The Home School Legal Defense Association has the full report.


Homeschool College Success


by Tammy Drennan

A new study, reports Home School Legal Defense Association � Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students,* by Michael F. Cogan shows that homeschoolers are not just succeeding in college, they�re continuing their above-average tradition.

Consider this:
o Homeschoolers scored higher on the ACT (26.5) compared with the overall student body (25).
o Homeschoolers earned more college credit (14.7) prior to their freshman year compared to the student body (6).
o Homeschooled students earned a higher fall semester GPA (3.37) when compared to other freshman students (3.08).
o Homeschooled students earned a higher first-year GPA (3.41) when compared to other freshman students (3.12).
o Homeschooled students earned a higher fourth-year GPA (3.46) when compared to other freshman students who completed their fourth year (3.16).
The evidence for independent education just keeps mounting. The evidence damning education by the state also keeps mounting.

As the state gasps and grasps, we must all help to keep the option of freedom before parents. If they don�t know it can work, if they don�t know how many others are doing it, they can�t make the choice.


* http://i.bnet.com/blogs/homeschool.pdf?tag=content%3Bcol1

It really is impossible to answer the question where do homeschoolers go to college any more than we could answer where do kids named Jacob or Kate go to college. Homeschooling is not uncommon. There are homeschoolers going every place from highly selective colleges to community college.

As far as how homeschoolers distinguish themselves there are lots of different ways. Work experiences, travel, volunteer experiences, internships, college classes in high school, competitions such as math and science competitions, sports that are not restricted by school attendance, arts, independent in depth study of topics of interest. One of the main advantages homeschoolers have over kids who go to school is that they have a lot more time available to devote to interests this is particularly true when compared to students who are attending elite, homework intensive high schools. Some opportunities such as internships may be easier to take advantage of for students who have daytime m-f availability.

As far as socialization, to me the concern there shouldn't be college but life. If your kid isn't well socialized enough to interact well with other people they've got bigger problems than college. Homeschoolers, like any other group of kids have mixed abilities. Some kids are mature and highly social, some not so much. Some parents are better at nurturing social development than others. Most homeschoolers are involved in a variety of experiences such as co-ops and community activities.

To the original poster, it isn't an all or nothing thing. You can always try homeschooling for a bit and see how you like it.

My 13-year-old son is twice exceptional and we have homeschooled since he finished kindergarten because the principal and a teacher recommended it. At six he was Tiger cub but mentally he fit in better with kids four years older. Almost all of his friends were three or four years older. They understood and liked the jokes he made and the vocabulary he used. The kids his age didn't understand his jokes. Even at six strangers were telling us that he talked more like an adult than a child. Some people probably thought this was strange. I heard someone describe him as "scary smart" one time. He had to learn to the social skill of dumbing down his vocabulary even with some adults. Since he wasn't around kids except in musical theater where he was with kids of all ages, many of them also very smart, he didn't have a good idea of what words kids were supposed to know at his age.

He stayed in scouts where he was with public schooled kids until just after he crossed over to boy scouts when his physical disabilities made it impossible for him to stay in with all the hiking and camping requirements. Even though his disabilities affect him physically he was able to hop on one foot at six. He didn't learn it at school, he learned it in dance that was part of his musical theater class. He would not have had time to both learn at his level and do the extracurricular activities he was involved in if he had stayed in public school with all the busywork they assign for homework that would have taken him longer to do because of his motor dysgraphia.

He also could not wear the brace he has to wear if he were in public school. We have to continue homeschooling for this reason. I had thought at one time that I might put him back in school for high school but not any more. When we go out for lunch, my son and I sometimes hear the conversations of the high school kids and I don't want my son socialized to be like them. A lot of them are rude and disrespectful and their vocabulary is filled with words I don't want my son repeating.

I think my son will fit in much better when he gets to college. My college professor sister-in-law doesn't think he will have any problem in college. She says they will make accommodations for his dysgraphia. His brace shouldn't be a problem then because he should be out of it by then. Most people assume that my son is several years older because he is tall and seems very mature for his age. I think he will finally fit in when he gets to college.

None of the 3 homeschoolers we had had any disabilities. One was a fundamentalist christian, so they homeschooled for that reason. It wasn't clear to us why the other two homeschooled- one boy couldn't read by the end of first grade. They all dropped out by third grade from cub scouts b/c they were "too busy."
I surf on a homeschooling 2 college website, although we don't homeschool. I think if you homeschool high school and the child wants to go to a very competitive college, they need to have very good SAT and other scores, National Merit finalist status, etc. Alot of them seem at that point to go to community college anyway, so although it's not "high school," it's not so much "homeschool."
It's gotten so difficult anyway to get into college! Out here in california, the average GPA on a 4.00 scale to get into the mediocre university of California schools (NOT Berkeley) is 4.20! Incredible!

Yes, I think my son will need to make a good score on the SAT or ACT if he wants to go out of state to college like his sister wants him to but I think it might be difficult for him to get through a really long test now because of the pain and fatigue issues, especially in his brace. I like the idea of having him take CLEP tests to get college credit while he is high school age, take community college classes while living at home for the first few years, then transfer to a state college about 45 minutes away from home. I don't want him to have any student loan debt and this is the only way I know to do it.

Can he take it off for three hours the day of the test or is he wearing it 24/7? If he's wearing it twenty four hours a day wouldn't he be used to it by the time he takes the test?

As far as graduating without student loan debt it would depend on his financial need and his academic profile. There are certainly students with high financial need who attend "no loan" colleges. And, there are students with high academic merit who get full college scholarships. Since he's so unhappy in your town, it seems like it would make sense to allow him the greatest range options to relocate. If you don't like the students in high school, I doubt you'll find community college more appealing.

Even if you homeschool a five years old things may change before graduation. I keep seeing k-12 virtual public school advertised. There are things called umbrella schools that are little co-ops of homeschoolers, I believe with a licensed registered teacher. AFAIK the colleges don't look at anything earlier than the ninth grade. You could homeschool until then. Foreign exchange during highschool is one thought. We're likely to have to figure something out before college age, you and me both. Seems like somewhere between ages 8-16 parents start looking for outside mentors, tutors, classes, or something.
If you have a pg kid you could apply for DYS and then you have like a guidance counselor to help.

-I have a 4 yr old & a 1 yr old. I'm not the voice of experience.

Good luck Lori. I have a feeling that your son will be very successful with the obstacles that have come his way and he has overcome. Whatever schooling he chooses.

Ren