Anyone been homeschooled?

Yes, I was homeschooled for 3 years due to bullying in public schools, and I needed time to get therapy and work things out. This (it turned out) had many other benefits, such as a better and more focused education. So this year, when I came back to school, I go into the 2 years advanced in math and getting am straight A's. Yes, it sometimes gets lonely, but there are many homeschooling groups you can join for extra curricular activities. These groups include HEART, HOME, and FISH. Have fun!
-BeautifulPoison

 

I have been homeschooled for more than a year and I love it! Are you in 8th grade or high school? Because I went to a public high school for 1 semester and it was the worst semester of my life! If you're self motivated you will be able to accomplish a lot in a very short amount of time and don't worry about college! Colleges love people who are self motivated! You may get lonely but if you have at least a couple friends you see here and there it should be okay. If you don't have friends to hang out with you may be a little lonely but keep in mind of how cruel people are in school and you will be glad you left! I'm so far ahead I'm into my first semester of senior year! If I had stuck with public school I would only be in my 2nd semester of sophomore year! I will most likely be done with high school by August or September and then I will enroll in community college in January of 2017!

 

Hey, I did homeschooling for a few years, so maybe I can help.

1) This won't change your chances about getting into college, if that worries you. Home/Cyber school is just as valid as regular schooling.

2) For me, no. I'm a very introverted person, so of didn't phase me much. I've always been that person who was fine with keeping in touch via social media, and can only handle people in short bursts. For me at the time, I occasionally went to a gaming joint with some friends or had Skype parties to keep me up to speed with how everyone in my circle was.

One of the pros for cyber school for me was having more elective choices, especially my senior year. I played my cards right, and only had a mandatory English (had British World Lit) and gym class. The rest was up to me, which gave me the freedom to do what I wanted. It was especially helpful to work at my own speed, since I sometimes liked to get ahead of the syllabus.

 

I was homeschooled most of my academic life (ended with tutoring and then cyber-school, so I have never been in a public school setting).

1. If you're self motivated then homeschooled would be great for you. One word of advice, though, is make sure your schooling is well thought out. Like all your curriculum and whatnot - you'll have more freedom in choosing what to study. So if you know what you want to do post high-school, homeschooling is ideal because you can (more or less) shape your whole education around that thing. Just don't fly blind, yeah? Plan it out with your mom's help and know where your resources are (there are many homeschooling organizations).

2. Well, the social arena is definitely the part of homeschooling that people rag on the most - assuming homeschoolers are socially retarded weirdos (untrue, and many homeschoolers i knew were far better behaved than their counterparts). One plus is that you never have to deal with bullies. If you're in touch with any local homeschooling organizations, they should connect you with social opportunities, sports, clubs, and so on. About getting lonely, it depends on you. I'm a extremely introverted, eccentric social outcast so I never got lonely.

In my experience, the best things about homeschooling are:
> felxible schedule
> more opportunity for focus in academics
> less social pressure
> ability to customize your curriculum

Some of the biggest drawbacks:
> can result in lost extracurricular opportunities
> can hit social life
> can be messy and disorganized (if not carefully planned)
> no teacher/student interactions

Homeschooling isn't easy, don't let anybody tell you that. But it definitely can be an enriching experience if you do it right. As for college, you have every opportunity (and probably more) to get into one with a homeschooling background. No problem there.

 

I've been homeschooled since the age of.. seven ? I think I was seven anyway...
I'm taught by my Mum and, yeah, it's pretty chill. I think it does depend on how strict your mother will be, mine let's me have some fridays off if I get enough work done during the week and most of the time I'm the one choosing what lessons I have next... There's no set timetables, no time limit for work to be complete, I get to do it all in my own home, lunch isn't crappy school food or a sandwhich and a juice carton in a bag and instead eat whatever i want, it's quiet and there's no jerks around so... yeah.
I'm enjoying it. (￣ε￣〃)ｂ
You basically just do school however you and your mother want to. As long as you get enough work done, your good.
That's how it works for me, anyway. Me and my mother put together a report of the year every january for some education-official-business-guy-somewhere as proof that we've been doing enough work and then we're free to chill, they aren't very strict about it either (for me anyways).
But, does it get lonely...? It depends.
With me, I didn't really have many friends at school (most likely because I was known as the kid that cried every day at school because I didn't want to be there... Ah, childhood memories...) so I wasn't really leaving much behind. I did have one friend but eventually they found new friends at school and we grew apart because i never saw them anymore so, nowadays, I have absolutely no clue where they are.
But, then again, I have a brother and a sister. Albeit, older than me (sister is 4 years older, brother is 6 years older) but we're all really close and all like the same things, so I still have them.
But, yeah, sometimes I am kinda like '......uuuuuuuhgggghhh....' over seeing the same faces eeeveeery siingle daaayy, but, then again, I'm just a nerd and probably wouldn't have a social life even if there was people to socialise with. It does make me super eager to talk to new people though... Like, whenever I see someone my age who looks like a good person I just have this tiny smidgen of hope that maaaaayyybe they'll talk to me... but... you know... they don't... and that's alright with me.
It just depends on you.
I'm actually also kinda concerned about colleges and stuff but I'm pretty certain it's fine. Unsure on that one, but I'm sure someone else can tell you... ┐(´∀｀)┌
Honestly though, homeschool has become one my favourite times of the week... and, hey, if it can make me hate weekends in comparison to weekdays when i have homeschooling as much as it does then it must be at least okay-ish !
Do keep in mind that this is all just my personal experience... I have no clue if this is normal or what you want or anything but... it's what it's been for me.
But it's up to you, bud. (￣︶￣)
- Umi

 

I was homeschooled all the way from pre-k through 11th grade, and I honestly loved it. Once I hit 7th grade or so, I was essentially self-taught, so I was able to set my own schedule, do my work at my own pace, and still have plenty of time to pursue other things throughout the day (oh how I miss that!).

I can't speak for the whole "virtual school" thing. It seemed too cookie cutter for us, so we opted to build our own curriculum from various sources (Saxon math, Apologia science, Abeka, Total Language Plus, etc...), so I learned straight from textbooks. Definitely research and ask around to try to decide what would suit you best. You can also add fun "electives" that count towards your school credits, like music lessons, art, etc...

I had no problem getting into college whatsoever, and was surprisingly able to transition quite gracefully! I was scared to death of the thought of taking exams, as I went from never taking a test in my whole life, to taking both my AP Physics exam and my SATs in one week, but I landed solid scores and was accepted without a hitch! Once in college, adjusting to being on a routine was a drag, but I maintained a high GPA and am graduating this semester with high honors. So... I suppose you can say it worked out well!

I'm not a rare case by any means though. From my experience, colleges tend to love homeschoolers, and the lion's share of the best students at my university were homeschooled. Why? Well, us homeschoolers not only learn self discipline and motivation early on, but we've had the blessing of constant access to personalized private tutoring for literally every subject from people who care about your future more than anyone in the world, so it's an incredibly thorough and meaningful education, and colleges pick up on that. ALSO! When you're a junior/senior in high school, you can take a bumper crop of dual-enrollment courses at your local college at a fraction of the cost of tuition, so you can waltz in with a whole year of credits under your belt, which is what I did my senior year (came in as a freshman with 34 credits). So, when it comes to the educational aspect of it, it was an incredible privilege that I am truly grateful to have had.

As for social life, I didn't really form friendships until middle school, and they were all from my church group, but ten years later, I'm still best friends with those people, so it all worked out. I admit it was a bit of a struggle at first, but I was naturally a very shy child, so I don't suppose I would have had many friends in regular school either. That said, there are loads of homeschool social groups, as well as other activities you can get involved with. It's a very tight-knit and supportive community, it just takes a bit more effort to get involved.

Granted, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who never went to regular grade school, so I can't speak for the other side of things, and I know it's not for everyone, but I would definitely try it out if you're interested!