home school parents chime in

[OutHouse]

we are thinking about home schooling for our 12 year old son. Lets just say there are problems at his jr high with bullying and im not going to subject him to it again next year for 8th grade. we are gathering info about home schooling programs so if you home school your kids what program do you use and why.

if you want to discuss by PM im open to that as well.

 

[sixone]

Have you considered karate lessons over the summer, instead? Building his self-confidence and teaching him healthy ways to cope with adversity will be more valuable than anything else you can teach him at home.

 

[OutHouse]

Have you considered karate lessons over the summer, instead? Building his self-confidence and teaching him healthy ways to cope with adversity will be more valuable than anything else you can teach him at home.

he has been in taekwondo for 3 years and is one belt away from his black belt. he should be testing this fall if all goes well. he can defend himself and trashed the two punks that started punching him for no fricken reason in the classroom and hallway. video of both incidents prove it was unprovoked.

my wife and I have spoken to principal, dean, teachers... its like a brick wall. we are done with it, he is a good kid and i care about his future. when he is at that school it drains him because its every single day he gets picked on by groups of kids. his grades suffer because he does not want to be there, he wants to learn he wants to graduate but not at that place.

 

[sixone]

he has been in taekwondo for 3 years and is one belt away from his black belt. he should be testing this fall if all goes well. he can defend himself and trashed the two punks that started punching him for no fricken reason in the classroom and hallway. video of both incidents prove it was unprovoked.

Awesome. So why is the bullying still a problem?

 

[waggy]

Awesome. So why is the bullying still a problem?

you seem to think its just about size.


its more then finding a small target or one that can't defend himself.

 

[OutHouse]

Awesome. So why is the bullying still a problem?

what can be done? kick their ass?? nope if he got suspend one more time he would have been expelled for defending himself. isnt that some bullshit?

 

[OutHouse]

you seem to think its just about size.


its more then finding a small target or one that can't defend himself.

thats part of it. my son is small for his size, some of the kids who are picking on him are 8th graders and look like seniors, they are huge. it really concerned my wife and I that they will gang up on him and really hurt him.

 

[sixone]

you seem to think its just about size.


its more then finding a small target or one that can't defend himself.

Yes, that's EXACTLY why I mentioned size.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

My friend was bullied in the first grade and his mother responded by pulling him out of school and homeschooling him through high school. It led to some serious socialization issues, since the only way he could meet people was through extracurricular activities. He ended up doing theater camps and fell in with a group that went heavily into drug use by the time he was 14. If he hadn't gone into the Army at age 19, he probably would be dead or in jail by now (one of his friends was murdered in a drug deal a couple years ago, so I'm not exaggerating that point).

I don't see the benefit in pulling the kid out of school. You say he already knows how to defend himself. He needs to learn that there are jerks in the world, and changing your entire life to avoid one or two bad people is a really bad lesson for him to learn. Talk to the principal and get some disciplinary action brought down on the bullies; don't just run and hide. You'll do much worse damage for him long term by taking him away from a child's largest source of education on how to interact with other people.

 

[OutHouse]

anyway back on topic. if you home school your kids, tell me about it please.

 

[Gooberlx2]

what can be done? kick their ass?? nope if he got suspend one more time he would have been expelled.

Hell, if you're going to homeschool anyway, maybe allow your son (and probably everyone else getting bullied) the satisfaction. :awe:

 

[OutHouse]

My friend was bullied in the first grade and his mother responded by pulling him out of school and homeschooling him through high school. It led to some serious socialization issues, since the only way he could meet people was through extracurricular activities. He ended up doing theater camps and fell in with a group that went heavily into drug use by the time he was 14. If he hadn't gone into the Army at age 19, he probably would be dead or in jail by now (one of his friends was murdered in a drug deal a couple years ago, so I'm not exaggerating that point).

I don't see the benefit in pulling the kid out of school. You say he already knows how to defend himself. He needs to learn that there are jerks in the world, and changing your entire life to avoid one or two bad people is a really bad lesson for him to learn. Talk to the principal and get some disciplinary action brought down on the bullies; don't just run and hide. You'll do much worse damage for him long term by taking him away from a child's largest source of education on how to interact with other people.

thanks for you compelling story. my kid will be 13 in july not 7 so he is well socialized and has lots of friends out of school. are you are saying public school is a better education than home school?

 

[sixone]

what can be done? kick their ass?? nope if he got suspend one more time he would have been expelled for defending himself. isnt that some bullshit?

Yup, total bullshit. If the school is denying your kid an education in order to provide one to kids who refuse to behave well, you should be suing the school district.

I can certainly see why you wouldn't want to put your kid in danger, while you work that out.

 

[waggy]

My friend was bullied in the first grade and his mother responded by pulling him out of school and homeschooling him through high school. It led to some serious socialization issues, since the only way he could meet people was through extracurricular activities. He ended up doing theater camps and fell in with a group that went heavily into drug use by the time he was 14. If he hadn't gone into the Army at age 19, he probably would be dead or in jail by now (one of his friends was murdered in a drug deal a couple years ago, so I'm not exaggerating that point).

I don't see the benefit in pulling the kid out of school. You say he already knows how to defend himself. He needs to learn that there are jerks in the world, and changing your entire life to avoid one or two bad people is a really bad lesson for him to learn. Talk to the principal and get some disciplinary action brought down on the bullies; don't just run and hide. You'll do much worse damage for him long term by taking him away from a child's largest source of education on how to interact with other people.

to base homeschooling on one person is idiotic. sounds like the kid was fucked up adn got in with a bad crowd. i don't think him being in a reguler school would help.

though he does bring up a good point. With homeschooling you really need to have other outlets for meeting other kids. I know a few families out here that home school. the kids are in a few different things. From sports teams to dance.


Since it does not sound like talking to the school is going to do anything have you tried going up teh ladder? go to a school board meeting or contact the State board of education.

thanks for you compelling story. my kid will be 13 in july not 7 so he is well socialized and has lots of friends out of school. are you are saying public school is a better education than home school?

nobody can say yes or no to that. I know a few families and it varies widely. From what i see it depends on how you teach them. One family is so far ahead its insane. the kids are great. they are well behaved, social and a joy to have around. The other? fuck i am amazed any of the kids (5 of them) can read or write. the parents are lazy fucks so its no surprise.

 

[OutHouse]

Hell, if you're going to homeschool anyway, maybe allow your son (and probably everyone else getting bullied) the satisfaction. :awe:

school was out last week and hello neighbor im a little north of Brighton.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Most of them are religious nuts. So if you join a "homeschool group" expect that.

 

[SirStev0]

Every home school kid I have ever met were complete spazzes. Sorry it just is.
You'd be better taking your kid out getting him some exercising and teach him to throw a punch. One good fight clears a lot of this stuff up.

You are pretty much saying 'my kid can't take social situations, so I am going to forcibly take him out of any chance to have social interactions'.

 

[vi edit]

Nearly every home school situation I've known the parents home schooled up through middle school. Once the kid was high school age they usually stopped schooling at home and turned education over to the teachers. They were not comfortable teaching the advanced math classes, science, ect and felt their kids needed the socialization and availability of extra curriculars (sports, band, ect).

Are you and/or your wife capable of teaching advanced algebra, trig, calc, physics, and chemistry? What about expressive things like writing and art? There's just a certain point where many parents can't effectively replace a dedicated professional with years of experience on their subject.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

thanks for you compelling story. my kid will be 13 in july not 7 so he is well socialized and has lots of friends out of school. so yo are saying public school is a better education than home school?

No, I think that if you find a good curriculum you can offer a better educational experience for learning basic subjects in a homeschool environment because you can afford to give one-on-one time for every question. But education is more than just reading, writing, arithmetic, science, economics, history, and other staples; it's teaching children how to interact with each other. You cannot replicate that in a homeschool environment. That's a huge failing in my mind. Learning about different personality types is important, including the douchebags of life.

Have you talked to the school principal about this? And if there was video evidence, why was your son suspended for the incident?

 

[vi edit]

Personally, I'd go private before I went homeschool. At least private wise you can threaten to pull your kid out and they lose the tuition.

 

[Saint Nick]

thanks for you compelling story. my kid will be 13 in july not 7 so he is well socialized and has lots of friends out of school. so yo are saying public school is a better education than home school?

Why all the cynicism? He was just providing you with an anecdote to help you with your decision. You posted the thread, you got a result.

I was given the option to be home schooled or go to private school. My brother was expelled from the local high school and my parents didn't want me to feel any repercussions from that. I chose to go to another public school about 30 miles away. That sucked hard. I ended up going back to the local public school and I did fine. However, if I could go back, I would have gone to private school.

I feel that a home schooled education is simply no good, unless the teacher-parent is educated in how to teach efficiently. I am with most posters in this thread that you shouldn't just yank him out because of a few dweebs. That will pass soon enough. Maybe once he gets a growth spurt or three they will think twice.

The only other things you could really do to help him out would be encouraging him to eat big, protein-dense foods and lift weights. As he enters puberty, his testosterone will be through the roof, probably the highest it will ever be in his life. He'll put on size quick, and with a black belt, no one will want to mess with him.

 

[OutHouse]

Every home school kid I have ever met were complete spazzes. Sorry it just is.
You'd be better taking your kid out getting him some exercising and teach him to throw a punch. One good fight clears a lot of this stuff up.

You are pretty much saying 'my kid can't take social situations, so I am going to forcibly take him out of any chance to have social interactions'.

everybody has a breaking point. how would you like it if you went to work every and everday you got called names, punched, laughed at, shit stoled from you, pinched... yea how long would you put up with it?? oh and you told your boss and he says "well nobody from management saw it so we cant act on it." you cant punch them because you will get fired but it goes on and on and on and on and on..

so how long would you stay there?

 

[Imp]

I would say talk to the bullying kids' parents, but they're probably abusive/deadbeat/not fully "normal", which is why their kid does what they do. Or maybe you'll get lucky?

I'm assuming you live in a rural area so moving school's is a matter of moving a couple towns over.

Overall shitty situation. I went to a highschool with zero tolerance bullying, so worked out for me. Junior-high and under was a different story - if I run into those fuckers again I'd probably key their car.

 

[Saint Nick]

everybody has a breaking point. how would you like it if you went to work every and everday you got called names, punched, laughed at, shit stoled from you, pinched... yea how long would you put up with it?? oh and you told your boss and he says "well nobody from management saw it so we cant act on it." you cant punch them because you will get fired but it goes on and on and on and on and on..

so how long would you stay there?

Really, that is a pretty ridiculous example. I work for a power company with boat loads of union employees. There was a situation where a group of guys working in a coal plant would dump metal shavings down other employee's pants, deflate their tires, steal shit from their lockers, etc. They all got fired, but guess what? They all came back. Thanks, union.

 

[OutHouse]

No, I think that if you find a good curriculum you can offer a better educational experience for learning basic subjects in a homeschool environment because you can afford to give one-on-one time for every question. But education is more than just reading, writing, arithmetic, science, economics, history, and other staples; it's teaching children how to interact with each other. You cannot replicate that in a homeschool environment. That's a huge failing in my mind. Learning about different personality types is important, including the douchebags of life.

Have you talked to the school principal about this? And if there was video evidence, why was your son suspended for the incident?

he got suspended because he fought back. because he did so he is guilty of fighting and has to be suspended. i asked the dean of students what was he suppose to do? the answer was he needed to run away and find a teacher. if he did that he would not have been suspended.

im not going to put him in a bubble, he has TKD 3 times a week and he has a side business selling fishing worms to the local gas stations. he makes about 130 bucks a week and thats pretty good scratch for a 12 year old.