Homeschooling – Pro and Con

Now that our phone line and internet is hooked up again, I have spent part of the day surfing the net. In so doing, I couldn’t help but notice some of the debates over homeschooling take place. While nobody disagrees that the education usually is superior to that of public schools, there is some question as to how well adapted homeschooled children are socially after they graduate.
In my experience, it depends upon the parents. I have seen both good and bad. In one particularly egregious example, one of my friends roomed in college with a homeschooled fellow who grew up in a very sheltered environment — to the point of social inneptitude. For example, he was clueless as to who Darth Vader was.
Another story takes place within the context of a particular post-conciliar traditionalist schisms, which has attracted many adherents to a certain geographical locale. As soon as the girls reach their late teens or early twenties, they marry guys in their late thirties to early forties. They simply cannot relate to guys their own age, as the girls find the guys their own age too socially immature and too sheltered to maintain decent employment and support a family. So, obviously, this is the downside.
On the other hand, some of the most socially well-adjusted young men I have met were also homeschooled. I’m thinking, in particular, of a friend of mine whom I met through the FSSP. His parents were both military officers and took the view that homeschooling was about raising their children to be tommorrow’s Catholic leaders. Therefore, they didn’t see homeschooling as sheltering their children, but as an apprenticeship to maintaining one’s faith while venturing forth in the real world.
So besides the usual homeschooling activities of catechesis, reading, writing, mathematics, history, geography, etc… their kids also participated in sports, the arts, community service, choir practice, boy scouts and even scuba-diving (my friend’s father explained that this wasn’t just phys-ed, but a reinforcement of the lessons learned in mathematics and geography as well.) Another homeschooled friend of mine, who I met through the charismatic movement, did small-aircraft piloting rather than scuba-diving.
In each case, some of the other parents in the respective parish thought these parents were too libertine, wasteful and risky with the lives of their children. But their children have all turned out well. They came out from homeschooling well-adjusted young adults, with real life skills and capable of assuming responsibility. All have all kept the faith. They are all grateful for their home-schooling background, and remain close to their parents. One is about to graduate with a double-degree in fine arts and engineering. The other is a well-liked pilot and aircraft mechanic. Both are active in their faith.
On the other hand, a lot of my homeschooled friends whose parents sheltered them have turned out aweful. The one that breaks my heart the most is an ex-girlfriend who rebelled against her parents, got involved with a drug-addict, had a child that was given up for adoption, never finished high-school, and now works in the so-called “adult entertainment” field and is bitter against both her family and the Catholic faith. Others have become a variation, albeit not as bad.
So my point is that homeschooling depends upon the parents. If parents use homeschooling to shelter their kids from the real world, this is not good. But if parents use homeschooling to prepare their kids for the real world, then the results are much better than a public school education.
The same can be said about private Catholic schools. I know some traddy schools that simply shelter kids, and the kids graduate knowing all sorts of facts and figures, but still socially and emotionally immature. On the other hand, St. Gregory’s Academy — under the auspices of the FSSP — openly has as its purpose not only classical education of teenage boys, but their formation and growth from boys into responsible young men. Thus the boys are expected to participate in sport, theatre, music and various social activities. When they graduate, it is a educated and well-adjusted young men.

3 comments

  1. Interesting comments on homeschooling. Since I am just beginning to homeschool, I thank you for pointing out many of the pitfalls which I have also seen. I am also disturbed by the number of homeschool parents who don’t think that are opposed to college. I am so glad not to be a pioneer in this area as I have such good examples of homeschool families who have raised model families. You are right to point out that so much depends on the parents which I think is true whether you homeschool or not. As a beginning, I think praying, praying and praying and maintaining a two parent home where we are both involved with our children is so important.

  2. The socialization issue is something I worry about. I want my boys to be able to function in society as well-adjusted men and I do worry about sheltering them too much. (but I think that having 4 older sisters and their assorted friends keeps the ‘real’ world accessible – perhaps too real and too accessible) But when I drive my 17 year old daughter to the public high school, I find myself looking at the boys there and thinking that these aren’t the best adjusted specimens that I’ve ever seen, either.
    The Darth Vader comment is going to stick with me. I want the guys to know who Darth Vader is. On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t want either of them to think that he is Darth Vader. (i.e. wind up like Comic Book guy on The Simpsons. Not that he was homeschooled…….I think :) )

  3. I had typed up a rather long response to your post. I am a 10 year (and couting–this is our last year!) homeschooling mom.
    However, in the interest of charity, I deleted it. It would be better for me to respond on my own blog, and not take up your comments boxes with my rant! :-)
    And perhaps I will calm down a tad before I sit at the keyboard.

Comments are closed.