I was homeschooled with my brother up until high school, and it was a mixed experience for me. Academically both myself and my brother were far, far above our peers in public school. The main difference was that especially with math, we had understanding of the material rather than just knowledge. Our parents flipped houses a lot so we'd often have to use our math skills regularly when helping out. How much area is a deck that's 15'x40' with a curved section at the end that has a 7.5' radius? Applied geometry was reinforced heavily. In addition we were able to do more community activities, which boosted our ability to talk with people older than us.
The disadvantage however was in our ability to socialize with our peers. The trope of homeschooled kids being weird is 100% true, and is a factor of a lack of a peer group to test social norms with. When you have an insular network your set of social norms only evolves around what's acceptable within your family. I personally struggled a lot with socializing and I wasn't really able to properly integrate until I was ~25 or so.
I disagree with Amanda's statement that you have to have faith in a child's wonder to facilitate their development. I would say the onus is on the parents to provide things to wonder about. This is a hard task, one that my mother worked endlessly on. It was a 50 hour a week job for her to educate us. Even with that though there are still the social downsides. For parents that are considering it, I would still recommend it, but know that you're taking on a significant responsibility and that you'll need to find after school programs for your kids to have a chance to socialize with other kids their age. This can be hard to find, especially in earlier years.
Exactly. Many parents just buy a homeschool "curriculum" and do an accelerated version of the public school lessons. Making various subjects interesting is a skill in itself for the parent-teacher. Young kids just want to play with their toys and friends for the most part.
I disagree with Amanda's statement that you have to have faith in a child's wonder to facilitate their development. I would say the onus is on the parents to provide things to wonder about. This is a hard task, one that my mother worked endlessly on. It was a 50 hour a week job for her to educate us. Even with that though there are still the social downsides. For parents that are considering it, I would still recommend it, but know that you're taking on a significant responsibility and that you'll need to find after school programs for your kids to have a chance to socialize with other kids their age. This can be hard to find, especially in earlier years.