How was YOUR school experience? Was a poor PS experience a contributing factor for..

[rafgaf4]

I had a great public school experience. I always was on the A or B honor roll through Junior High. Once I began high school I joined the cheerleading squad and became less and less interested in learning anything. I still maintained a B average but never applied myself or even tried. It wasn't until I left high school that I discovered how little I had actually learned. I couldn't believe that I was on the B honor roll without it even being a challenge. Something wasn't right. Once I discovered the Classical Education, I realized just how little I knew. I was never even taught to learn on my own. I chose to homeschool my kids, so I could provide them with the education I never received.

[LizzyBee]

I loved school from the beginning all the way through college. I would have kept taking more college classes if time and money were unlimited. I assumed my kids would love school, too. When I first heard of homeschooling, I thought it was the weirdest thing I'd ever heard of, and I was sure I would never do that! :lol:

[Happy2BaMom]

Once I discovered the Classical Education, I realized just how little I knew. I was never even taught to learn on my own. I chose to homeschool my kids, so I could provide them with the education I never received.

 

I was actually an A student, graduating with a 3.70 (in the days when grades actually meant something....I read somewhere recently that there was a high school class in California where 25% of the student body were all valedictorians! That story belongs under the other thread...stupid educational trends.)

 

Anyway, I COMPLETELY agree with the quote above. I was an A student at a decent high school, an A student in college, and when I got out, I still wasn't nearly as educated as I have become (will continue become) by devoting myself to a classical education. Looking back now, I feel that 10-15 years of my life were wasted by spending it in a typical public education setting. All that time in school...and I still didn't know much about history, geography, great books, or politics (let alone how to link any of those together) at the end. And I certainly didn't learn how to think.

 

My kids deserve better. Every child deserves better, but all I can control is what I can provide my own, and others I may influence along the way.

 

So, my ps experience has everything to do with why I am hsing my kids.

[Hedgehogs4]

i am a person with a natural hunger and drive to learn. i believe that ps inhibited that drive in me, and i do not want the same to happen to my children...there was more "i can't" in school than "i can, and i will." for instance, i wanted to express myself creatively, but our art program in school stank...it was nearly non-existent. i would have thrived in an arts-based program, but there was a crappy, underfunded music program and the aforementioned art program.

 

i was also bullied and picked on constantly in school, i was socially immature by peer standards, but actually was kind of an old soul in a kid's body and misunderstood by my peers. my son is very similar. as it is, he is extremely well-liked, well-adjusted, and "cool" among his peers, but in school, i don't know if the same would be true because of the personality quirks that we share.

 

i homeschooled my kids because of socialization. i didn't want my kids to be like those i saw coming out of the ps, so that was my first motivation. i also firmly believed that i could do a far better job of giving them a quality education than the ps.

[hsbaby]

I loved public school. I had a great experience both socially and academically. I really have nothing negative to say about it. However, times have changed. I also know that my experience was rare. DH hated school and many, many people I talk to felt the same way. My kids started out in public school and, after a few years, I realized that their experience was nothing like mine. There were no great music programs like I had, limited field trips (if any), a lot of bullying (which was NOT dealt with appropriately, IMO), and the teachers seemed so restricted by budgets and testing. We moved to an area with a prominent homeschooling community and I realized that they would be better off. Two years into it and I know I was right. The opportunities available to them because we homeschool just aren't possible in the public schools.

[Krista in LA]

I was so stinking bored at school, I cried everyday that I had to go for years. I joke about kind of being homeschooled as I learned far more at home than I ever did at school. Only when we moved and I went to a jr/sr high where they actually put the smarter kids together in classes did I actually feel like I was learning anything and even then it was pretty easy.

 

It definitely influenced my decision to homeschool as I was not going to put my kids through that. My dd did decide to go to public high school this year though.

[swellmomma]

I had a fairly difficult time in ps and yes it did have some impact on my deciding to homeschool but was not the only reason, or even the main one. I was bullied from grade 5-10, then I went a bit crazy and finaly evened out by graduation. I was bullied heavily by my peers but several teachers over the years were just as bad(not just o me but to all the students in general). I put my kids in ps in the beginning, but had my eyes open for issues like I had. They had different ones than me, but because I was so ready to pounce on every injustice/inadequecy I saw I think I drove the teachers batty. Now in my defense nothing I brought to their attention was something that should have been let go, both kids have disabilities and were not being helped at school, behaviour issues etc.

 

There was a lot of factors in my deciding to homeschool but yes my experiences have coloured my view of ps interactions for sure.

[OnTheBrink]

I liked school until about...junior high. For the most part, my elementary years were ok. There was one incident in 1st grade when the teacher spanked me in front of the class. I was notoriously bad at getting "seat work" finished and this particular day, I had gotten it done, ahead of time. While I sat waiting for her to call me up to grade it, I colored the borders of my paper in purple crayon (to make it pretty!). She saw I was coloring, grabbed my arm, pulled me up, swatted my backside, threw me down in the seat and yelled, "You'd better show me that work, missy!" I never told my mother this; if the teacher was going to hit me, my mother was going to kill me! Beyond that, I have fond memories of elementary school.

 

Junior high and high school -meh. I don't really remember learning much, overall. I was bored with it, distracted by social dramas. I just wanted to get it overwith.

 

What really prompted me to homeschool was my son's experience in public education. We ran into more jerk teachers than good ones and I'd had enough of it. We pulled him out after 8th grade.

[KrissiK]

Yes, it was partly the result of our deciding to homeschool. I was a smart kid, but definitely not challenged. I finished the 6th grade math book half way through the year and my teacher let me.... help out in the kindergarten room during math time. And that was only one example.

 

Socially... hmm, well, I learned to swear, I learned the finer techniques of lying to my parents, I was exposed to p----graphy in jr. high. And those are only a few examples. And I went to school in a small town. One of the supposed better schools.

[MomLovesClassics]

I almost hate to tell my experience. My mom decided to move to what I consider to be a horrible area. The bus system was set up where EVERYONE rode the same bus from Kindergarden all the way up to 12th grade. I remember my first day on that crowded bus, I was only 9 and there were teenage boys holding me down while boys took turns kissing me. This happened daily, and nothing was done about it. Kids smoked on the bus. The sort of things that happend to me on that bus were I was beat, my arm was twisted so hard it hurt for weeks, I was threatened with knives and sissors if I did not give up my seat, open or close the window, and anything else I refused to do. In high school there was 5 minutes between classes and no breaks. Lunch was only 20minutes. It was common for kids to smoke in bathrooms, outside and whereever they felt like it. I was constantly gropped in the hallway between classes. Because I did good in Algebra, and allowed others to copy my papers, they would protect me when they seen me in the hallway and not let guys put their hands all over me. I did not mind letting people copy my paper because that meant I had a protecter in the hall. If you fought against the gropping, you ended up getting beaten. The things that go on these days is tame compared to what I went through. I could not wait to move away from that area. Did I mention I was on the school bus at 6:30 AM and got home at 4:45PM? Really I could go on about that horrid school system. It was a nightmare for me, and I would rather not have to think about it. Despite all that I loved learning, and I constantly felt held back as if things flowed way to slow. Keep in mind this was not a big city, this was in a small rural southern town.

[jelbe5]

I have not read all the posts here, but one of the main reasons I decided to homeschool is because I was teased unmercifully in grade school. I attended a Catholic grade school and a Catholic all-girls high school. The education was very good and I enjoy learning. However, grade school was torture for me. We had moved a bit when I was younger and when I entered the Catholic grade school in 3rd grade (it was a K-8 school) the groups and cliques had already formed. I was an outsider. A "mean girl" who was very popular lead the way in the teasing. Happily, her family moved during the summer before 8th grade and the teasing suddenly stopped. I enjoyed 8th grade and high school with no further problems, but those previous years of teasing impacted me in a negative way and I struggled with insecurities for quite a while. When I read about the Irish high school girl who recently killed herself due months of teasing I cried because my heart ached for her and her plight . . .

 

The schools in the area where we live are not very good, and private school is out of the question for us financially. I was an only child and I finally have the bigger family I always wanted (three children - that is pretty big to me!). My son has autism so I am able to give him a safe, supportive environment in which to learn. I truly cannot think of a better way to spend my life right now than to be with my children with the love and support of my husband . . . I know that may sound sappy, but it is true. This is indeed the happiest time in my life so far . . . I am so grateful to be able to homeschool.

 

Adrianne in IL

[Julie in MO]

Thanks to you all for posting on this thread. I was amazed at the different responses. I saw a theme emerge...we are all so committed to giving our kiddos the BEST we possibly can. Blessings to you all,

Julie in MO

[I talk to the trees]

My ps experience was horrible. Thirteen years, and I can count on two fingers the number of teachers who really cared about the kids. No, I'm not exaggerating. Dh went through the same schools, and his experience was just as bad. Did that influence our decision to hs? You bet!

 

And even though we were processed through what all of the parents called "great schools," I have realized that we learned just about *nothing.* Dd is learning things now in fourth grade that I never heard a whisper of in ps.

[Rhonda in TX]

Honestly, my PS experiences were not that bad. It is DH's experiences (he was bullied), and the changes we've seen in schools since we were there, that contributed to our decision to homeschool.

[happyhomemaker25]

I had a fairly good school experience. Private school through most of my elem. years. College prep magnet schools through Junior and Senior High.

I had a ton of fun in HS and managed to graduate by the skin of my teethe. It had nothing to do with the quality. I think the quality of my education was great. My highschool is one of the top 100 in the country every year.

However, because I was the quiet good kid I managed to slip by unnnoticed alot. I could make decent grades with subpar work.

I did not start homeschooling for educational reasons. I started for religious reasons. But I am so glad from an educational standpoint that I am homeschooling. My oldest is a lot like me. She would do subpar work if she could get away with it. I always knew she had it in her to do GREAT work and I pressed her to perform to her ability. This past year she has finally taken off. I am so impressed and I know had she stayed in PS that she would have only done the minimum required and not really learned much. Just like me.

I did like what one PP said about math. One reason I struggled so much with math was because every year you had a new teacher with a new way of teaching and new books. I like that in homeschooling I can use the same math program year after year. I think it helps my kids to be more comfortable with math.