 |
| Crazy Comment Time! |
I'm thinking about 15% of all families try it at some point around here. Yes, somewhere between a tenth and a fifth. The school district stats of an 88% "capture rate" for the public schools bears this out. That means 12% of all potential public schoolers in our district are NOT enrolled at any one given time. The nearby private Catholic school simply cannot account for even 1% of this number, as it enrolls children from a large area and only goes to the eighth grade.
That means about 10% of us are homeschoolers, but people are not required to register here, so of course that's quite a rough guess. I say 15% of children homeschool "at some point" because often what happens is, families will homeschool until their child is a certain age and then enroll him. That's what we did with Elf. He went to school for the very last couple of weeks in fifth grade and has been in school since. High schoolers who homeschool are certainly around, but many families don't pursue this option.
Now I know there are a few weird places out there like Antarctica and Massachusetts, but really. Most of us in the real world know plenty of homeschoolers. "Dragonslav" commented that she has never met a homeschooler, and where can she find one? And yet. She seemed to be a reasonably intelligent and sincere (read: not troll) person.
You've got to love the comments back that imply that oh, they are all off in college at the age of 14. Or oh, they are actually at home studying. Or... you've met lots of them and just don't know it because they covered their third eyeball (ok I made that one up).
So where would YOU go if you wanted to find a homeschooler?
Where would I go? To America! :o) You can add Japan to that list of places one would be surprised to find a homeschooler! (And, if anyone out there knows of one in my area, do let me know.)
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems to me that there are lots of homeschoolers in the US, but I admit that one or two more families besides ours would seem like "a lot" to me at this point!
I also don't personally know any homeschoolers. I don't think there's a lot of homeschooling done down here in Aus. There are special schools for disabled kids and I'm pretty sure that includes autistic kids as well as those physically disabled.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, the elusive homeschooler! They scatter like barn cats in daylight. That is why we are a hard bunch to find. lol
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see...WE can be found living our lives, just like the rest of the world. Here is an easy one...if it's a school day, and you aren't at the doctor's office or the hospital and see school age kids in the library, YMCA, in stores, at parks, museums, etc. and they don't seem to be with a herd of children, then they are likely homeschooled. I cannot tell you how many times my kids have been asked 'Why aren't you in school today?' by someone who had no idea that homeschooling even was an option. One day in a store when my daughter was asked, she gave the answer she was coached to give by me, "We are only above ground to get supplies." lol
That's actually a really good question. My first answer was, "My house!" ...there are two of us there.
ReplyDeleteBut in a broader context I realized that I didn't have a physical location to send people. Homeschool conventions? I've been to a few and really like talking to the people there... but they tend to be rather focused on finding the right materials for their family; that's not super conducive to having a chat and hanging out. Plus, there are some homeschool groups that teach things with which I rather strongly disagree, and I wouldn't want to send people to those places and get the wrong impression about homeschooling!
[Aside: A woman from my church was interested in homeschooling and so attended one such convention. She found me at church the next Sunday and said, "I want to homeschool, Luke, but that convention was so totally crazy! Are there resources and homeschoolers out there who are more like me? Is everyone that nuts?" I assured her that not everyone believed as said group did, and I, again, recommended she look into Sonlight (grin). She is now homeschooling--though not exclusively with Sonlight (sigh)--and it's been great for her and her family!]
And you cracked me up, Blondee. I'm going to have to use that someday [smile].
~Luke
If I wanted to find a homeschooler, I would go to the grocery store or library during school hours. Of course GA is jam-packed with homeschoolers so they are pretty easy to spot.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm a radical in the homeschooling world. I think I like being the radical of the radicals, especially since I love mathematics and have a favorite ratio (phi).
ReplyDelete