So out of curiosity...

[happymomofboys]

College drop out with a high school diploma.

[melmichigan]

I haven't finished my undergrad, hopefully it will still happen. For now I'm just an autodidactic bibliophile. DH has an AS, 2 A/E.

[fraidycat]

High school graduate. I have a certificate from a vocational school (travel agent).

 

That said, I might go back to school some day, but honestly I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!! I'm not certain enough to spend thousands of dollars on any one particular area of interest. :( I felt the same way 19 years ago when I graduated high school.

[Laura Corin]

I have a first class honours degree in French and Drama, and an MBA.  I also have two years of post-grad training in Chinese.

 

L

[horsellian]

I've 2 undergrad degrees - an MChem in Chemistry (a 4 year undergrad course in the UK) and a BA in Maths and Statistics.

 

My DH has a BA in French and linguistics and an MPhil and DPhil (silly local name for PhD) in theoretical linguistics - I'm looking forward to 'outsourcing' languages (which I'm rubbish at) to him!

[rdj2027]

I did an apprenticeship in banking and finance (no idea how that would translate to the US) and a B.S. in Geology.  Hubby has a B.S. in Surveying Engineering, and M.S.s in Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Naval Architecture and Systems Design and Management.

[Carrie12345]

High school grad.

 

I started college 3 different times, but never really acclimated to the work/study load. In high school, I skated by being a good test taker. Even earned big college scholarships! But no real college credits.

 

That definitely influences my kids' education. I rarely give them tests. If they can't talk/write about their subject, we read/investigate it further.

 

Dh has a BA in criminal justice. He's very successful in an industry that has absolutely nothing to do with criminal justice, lol.

[Mama Geek]

I have a BS in Civil Engineering and have about 11 years experience before we had dd and I stayed home.  Dh has a BA in Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering.

 

For the record we have family that homeschool where the mom has a high school diploma, the dad does have a degree in business, but they are our roll models for raising kids.  She has done such a wonderful job on the homeschooling front and they have both done a great job on the parenting front.  We respect them both a lot.

[abdesigns]

I have a BA in Visual and Performing Arts, with an emphasis in Graphic Design and a minor in Art History and Theory.  Worked for about ten years, but am home full time now, and I love it.

 

DH was in the Navy, and now works for the Navy as a civilian. 

[kristen18]

Wow! Some very smart peeps on this board. Now, I would be interested in seeing the stats on parents education levels as a whole in the homeschooling world, and especially, of those jumping ship on ps education in the recent years. I know of 4 families that pulled kids from our zoned elementary school and middle school just this year to homeschool.

We pulled our DD in February. I have a BA in Economics with a minor in Business Administration. DH has a BS in Finance and an MBA. 

[Donna]

BS in Biology and an MPT (masters in physical therapy)

 

[WishboneDawn]

Just high school here. Any further education I've done, like Education for Ministry, isn't recognized here in Canada (although I think it is in the US).

[craftyerin]

I have a BA in history and government, with a secondary (middle/high school) social studies teaching certificate.  Instead of using that, I applied to teach elementary at a classical private school where friends' kids went, and spent 7 years teaching 3rd and 4th grades, which was a much better fit for me than my painful middle school student teaching experience.  I'm not sure why I never considered an elementary ed degree, but it didn't cross my mind until after I graduated.  I did love my history degree, so I guess it all worked out.  

 

 

[Mona]

I have an Associate's degree in nursing.

Dh is an orthopedic surgeon, but also has a degree in pharmacy.

[historically accurate]

BA in History --  Non Western Civilization, and BS in Accounting.  I also made it about halfway through the MBA, but never finished.  DH has a BS in Computer Science.

[scubamama]

Just for the record - dh the rocket scientist teaches....nothing! He mainly groans when I order curriculum and talks me out of sending the kids to school when they make me crazy.

I'm fascinated by all the higher degree parents choosing to homeschool - your smart kids must be making us homeschoolers look good (especially since my kids are unable to find their math books some days....)

[fairfarmhand]

Just a high school diploma here. I wish I'd been able to attend college, but too many babies, too little money and time.

 

Oh well, I've continued learning lots. So glad we have a good library.

[fairfarmhand]

High school graduate. I have a certificate from a vocational school (travel agent).

 

That said, I might go back to school some day, but honestly I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!! I'm not certain enough to spend thousands of dollars on any one particular area of interest. :( I felt the same way 19 years ago when I graduated high school.

 

Oh yes, this is me. There are so many areas that I'd love to study!  But as far as settling on a job...nope. Can't think of anything I'd like to do out of the house.

[KrissiK]

I have a BS in Food and Nutritional Sciences, a California State Teaching Credential, and a MA in Teaching and Curriculum.

[StartingOver]

High School dropout here, I do have a GED. Hubby is a High School Graduate, no college.

[Chris in PA]

I have a BS in chemistry with a minor in economics.  My dh has a BA is physics with minors in astronomy and math.  One would think with our backgrounds we would have math/science kids....... well oldest dd is a psychology major and youngest dd is an English major.  However, ds loves science so I guess one out of three isn't bad.  :001_smile:

[KrissiK]

Also out of curiosity, does anyone here believe that a homeschool parent's level of formal education is important?

Honestly, no. I think a lot of people who may lack formal education were foolish when they were young and made poor choices educationally (or due to circumstances beyond their control they were unable to attain a higher level of education) but age and maturity have caused them to value education and want more for their children.

[MotherOfBoys]

I have a BS in Computer Science and my husband has a BA in Criminal Justice. It gave us a lot of loans which are now paid off but I don't use my degree and he didn't need his to be a state police officer. They send you to an academy for like 6 months to teach you what they want you to know.  

 

I don't think degrees matter for hsing but I do think college helped me to think differently and see other sides to things that I didn't know existed. I do think you need to know how to read though. I have an acquaintance in our town that reads (the state says) at a 4th grade level and was having a hard time getting her food stamps because of it. When DHS (human services) saw she was homeschooling a soon to be 4th grader (who by all people that know this little girl admit she is behind) it caused a big issue. Reading is important.

 

The other day my husband asked why more hs moms didn't do jeopardy. The older moms (having gone through school with each kid) would have (in theory) less holes in there education and probably know a lot of random facts.

[violamama]

Not necessarily important, though lots of education can be one indicator of love of learning.

 

I've got a bachelors, masters and doctorate in music performance with a focus in arts management. I also have Suzuki violin training and music theory pedagogy experience.

I have taught music lessons and related courses for about 20 years, and I taught English in Japan for 2 years.

 

My husband has a bachelors in computer science and went on to complete a law degree. He also completed a pilot's license.

 

One of the courses I've found most useful in our day to day life is a one year parenting with love and logic class we took. It informs my teaching both at home and in my college classes.

[Danielle1746]

I have a BS in Biology.  My husband has masters degrees in Organic Chemistry and Strategic Studies.

[Sobeknofret]

BA in biological anthropology, MA in English, PhD in Medieval literature and languages. The husbeast has BA,MA, and PhD in bioanthropology.

[jar7709]

I don't think higher education is necessary to be a successful homeschooling parent, but if I am being honest, I think it often can help. Even if all it really does is help the parent have confidence that they can do it.

[Runningmom80]

BA in English: Creative Writing.

 

 

Hoping to go back to graduate school soon

[WishboneDawn]

Also out of curiosity, does anyone here believe that a homeschool parent's level of formal education is important?

Yes?

 

I don't think it's a deciding factor but it can play a tremendous role in home education from what I've read here. There's a reason I follow certain posters here, you included, when they post about certain subjects. I think it's also a great help in understanding what a child needs for post-secondary education. I'm often searching here for clues in that area because I don't have first hand experience.

 

I don't think a lack of formal education beyond high school is an insurmountable or even terribly serious lack but I think it would be a little silly to downplay the importance it can pay for a lot of homeschoolers. I'm certainly thankful for the people here with heaps of formal education that I can consult when and if I need to.

[lailasmum]

BA professional media which is photography (my specialism) graphic design and video production. Total waste of 3 years of my life and a lot of money so many better ways to learn those skills.

[WishboneDawn]

Honestly, no. I think a lot of people who may lack formal education were foolish when they were young and made poor choices educationally (or due to circumstances beyond their control they were unable to attain a higher level of education) but age and maturity have caused them to value education and want more for their children.

There are times when pursuing more formal education is actually the foolish choice and the decision not to says very little about how much a person values education.

 

I'm quite glad I didn't pursue it when I was younger. I had no idea what I wanted to do and I was not well prepared for the rigors of university. I have a strong feeling I would have wasted money and washed out.

[Heidi]

Almost finished with my BA in education; 5 more classes. It is mostly BS though ;).

[froggiemomof3]

I have high school and then like 42 college credits in all kinds of stuff.  My plan was to get my BA in History but then life happened.

 

DH has a BA in Religion with a minor in Sociology.

[Rebel Yell]

Me: High school graduate- no honors or anything...  I lost interest in school around 10th grade, even though I was accused of being "gifted."  I have a Cosmetology license, and took a grand total of about 12 credits at community college around age 23 before I realized I had no idea what I really wanted to do so I quit.

 

DH- graduated from parochial high school. 1 semester at college, transfered to art school, has associates degree from art school.

[mom2bee]

So far? I have only a GED and an AA, I am working toward a Bachelors in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics (I'd love to double major but I have to tread lightly as I am running out of ways to pay for school!!!)

[bumblesmama]

Bachelors in Anthropology with my focus in paleoanthropology and archaeology . A Bachelors in Biology, focusing on ecology and evolutionary biology. Worked in Vet. Med. for over 10 yrs in clinical, toxicology, and clinical research. Maintained a part-time, active involvement in Archaeology through volunteer and contract work. Decided I didn't want to go to Vet school, and pile on more, huge student loan debt. Got married, bought a house.

I started my Masters in Archaeology, ran out of money, went to work in CRM to get more practical and field experience and pay the bills, had a kid, and now trying to find time and funds to finish my Masters, maybe start over in Geoscience. I still work part-time in my field as a consultant and as an assistant to the State Archaeologist.

DH has A.S. in Criminal Justice. Works really hard to keep roof over our heads, food on the table, and so I can be here to home school. He is our grounding force, tech guy, shop teacher, and mechanic...and our comic relief. He keeps me honest and real, when things get nutty.

 

Life happens, but never has my love of learning been dampened. I am absolutely loving my new path as Mom. ;)

[fairfarmhand]

BA professional media which is photography (my specialism) graphic design and video production. Total waste of 3 years of my life and a lot of money so many better ways to learn those skills.

 

I think that for certain majors and fields, college is sort of a waste of time and money. (gross generalization that I am not 100% on, just in general)

There are times when pursuing more formal education is actually the foolish choice and the decision not to says very little about how much a person values education.

 

I'm quite glad I didn't pursue it when I was younger. I had no idea what I wanted to do and I was not well prepared for the rigors of university. I have a strong feeling I would have wasted money and washed out.

I would have too. I think I would have gone to college because it was what I was supposed to do, taught school for a few years and hated it.  Then I would have felt that I would "waste" my degree by not teaching.

[melmichigan]

Also out of curiosity, does anyone here believe that a homeschool parent's level of formal education is important?

 

I don't think it's necessary, but it can be helpful.  

 

I went to college right out of high school.  My first semester was a party, I rarely went to class, few freshman cared.  I managed to pull off a good GPA just by showing up for exams.  I moved in with juniors and seniors the next semester and was able to move up to classes that actually gave me some academic challenge, my first experience with a whole class of kids as smart and determined to learn as I was.  It was an experience that stretched me as a person, and as a student.  I actually had to study!  

 

Life got in the way, I married DH, and went back to school for my nursing license because it was a quick and easy way to make enough money to put DH through college.  My parents were massively disappointed despite my graduating magnum cum laude while working full time, and were vocal about my underachievement and loss of potential.  At that point it became clear to me that I wasn't defined by a degree.  

 

I have gotten more out of my own self-education than I ever got out of my formal education.  I do miss the like-minded environment that I was exposed to in upper level classes - the collaboration and the discussion.

[Embassy]

I have a BS in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and a MA in Speech-Language Pathology.  Dh is a Bible school graduate with some vocational school.  

[Embassy]

So another question — how educated do you think your formal education made you?

 

Do you feel formal education is more valuable than informal, autodidactic stuff, or life experience?

 

I personally got far more out of self-education than I did out of my formal education, and homeschooling elementary grades for the past three years has shown me just how uneducated I am in certain areas. 

For me higher education was extremely valuable.  I was a late bloomer and while I disliked the classes in high school, I loved college and learned so much.  

 

I think the answer to that question depends on who you ask.  My dh didn't go to university, but he knows more than anyone else I have ever met.  

[mathnerd]

BS in Electrical Engineering and have worked on designing computer systems for over 15 years. DH has a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Instrumentation and Robotics Engineering. He works in the same field as me. We both afterschool our only child.

[Pawz4me]

I have an AAS in . . . something.  I truly can't remember the specific name, but it would equate to office administration or something similar in today's terms.  It got my foot in the door at a large law firm, where I worked until oldest DS was born.  DH has a BS in computer science.

[8filltheheart]

Also out of curiosity, does anyone here believe that a homeschool parent's level of formal education is important?

 

I wrote an answer this morning in another thread that was a spin on this question (if poor eduational outcomes are the direct result of poor teacher training, what about the educational level of a homeschool parent).   Since I am crunched for time, I'm copying and pasting my reply to that thread below.   Then I will expand beneath.  http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/486898-the-smartest-kids-in-the-worldanyone-read-this/page-2?do=findComment&comment=5180583

 

 

Homeschooling is no different than any other school. There are great, dedicated hard-working homeschooling moms and there are homeschoolers that do not educate their children. The outcome from homeschooling is as varied as the number of homeschooling families.

 

I do not believe the initial education level of,the homeschooling parent matters, but the willingness to commit to self-education and hard work in order to succeed does.

 

In a homeschooling environ, learning side by side your student is not the same as managing a classroom of 30 with 30 different levels of understanding and needing to meet each ones needs. That requires complete understanding of the topic being taught in order to be able to grapple with questions on the spot. In a homeschool environ, saying, I don't know, let's go research your question, is not leaving 29 other students wo a teacher.

 

I agree with Dana. I do better than most teachers in some areas, I definitely fall short in others. The difference is that I know and amdit my weaknesses and try to find ways to compensate for them vs pretending that I am a great teacher in those subjects so that I can take home a paycheck. ;). I am also not at the mercy of a bureaucracy and can ditch what isn't working and take a completely alternate route in order to actually help my students understand.

 

Alternatively, I could find the path of least resistance and say that all education is equal and toss a bunch of mediocre things at my child, not pay any attention to whether they actually do anything and expect them to teach themselves and do all the work wo supervision or grading, and 4 months later flip through a few of the workbooks and see that they have been lying about doing the work, and then post about how horrid my child is for lying.

 

Definitely a disservice to assume all things are better/worse in either direction.

 

Why do I believe that parental education is not directly related to successful homeschooling outcomes? B/c I know from my own weaknesses having to teach my children's strengths.   I am not math and science oriented.   My children, otoh, have definitely been skewed toward that direction.   My initial weaknesses have not hampered my helping them attain success in their strengths.   It definitely has forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and eventually I have had to admit defeat and outsource to tutors once I can no longer manage to keep up with them (though I would be able to make it further if  I had more time to teach myself.   But, I learn upper level math more slowly than they do and I don't have the time to devote to it.   Though I could never learn via AoPS b/c that is not how I learn.)

 

Basically, my degrees in psy and elementary ed have nothing to do with my raising a chemical engineer and an aspiring physicist successfully.  ;)   It has been what I have done with them and learned with them along the way.   (though now that I type that, I guess that is probably not completely true.   I think a huge part of their success is the direct result of my rejecting early academics and knowledge based education in favor of hours of imaginative play and focusing on critical thinking skills for educational output.   So.....my psy degree has probably been valuable, but my education degree.....absolutely not except for the fact that I spent my undergrad yrs researching cognitive development and the value of play and creative thinking in developing higher level critical thinking skills b/c of my early childhood/elementary ed focus.  ;)   But.....I didn't need the degree.   I could just have easily researched cognitive development on my own.   A healthy dose of stubborn to ignore the mainstream philosophy helps, too!!)

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think that one way it (having formal secondary education) might affect a homeschooling parent would be in their expectations for their own children.  In my nuclear family, college was a given and grad school no surprise.  By contrast, none of my parent's siblings attended college, and practically none of their kids did either.  I'm the only one on either side of the family with a graduate degree - and a lot of this had to do with our own parent's college experience and expectations for us (us meaning me and my cousins).

 

I expect my kids to go to college and won't be surprised if they pursue masters or doctorates.  That's just the expectation in our family, and in most of our social circle as well.   I'm guessing that a family history of higher education affects those expectations.  

 

Don't jump on me - I'm NOT saying that everyone who goes to college expects their kid to go, or that everyone who doesn't go to college doesn't expect their kids to go.  But, in trying to answer the question honestly, and in looking at my own family and at people I know IRL, this is one potential difference that I see.

[momto2Cs]

Also out of curiosity, does anyone here believe that a homeschool parent's level of formal education is important?

 

Not necessarily. I agree with Rose (Chrysalis Academy) that having a college background may color my expectations of what my children will do, but I don't think a college degree, or lack thereof, is substantial in actually homeschooling.

 

I have a BA in Liberal Studies, and am a third of the way through a MA in English Rhetoric & Education. However, due to a lack of classes, etc., in the English department of the college I attend, I am taking some time off from the MA to pursue a (double) single subject CA teaching credential in English and general sciences. I can always get back to the MA later on, and in the meantime, I could tutor in English, teach at a charter school part-time, or whatever!

 

ETA: Dh dropped out of high school at 17, but got his GED at 29, then his high school diploma at 30. He's currently enrolled in a Culinary Arts certificate program (retraining as he is unemployed), and will then be pursuing an AA in Culinary Arts.

[bumblesmama]

I don't think it's necessary, but it can be helpful.

 

I have gotten more out of my own self-education than I ever got out of my formal education. I do miss the like-minded environment that I was exposed to in upper level classes - the collaboration and the discussion.

This is me too!

[threeofakind]

BA in Elementary Education &

Masters in Instruction & Curriculum with a focus in Reading

 

Lots of great diversity around here! :hurray:

[Occasionally]

Add me to the not at all necessary, but sometimes helpful list. And auto-didacts seriously rock (degree or not.)

[AsgardCA]

. 

 

[sunnyday]

So another question — how educated do you think your formal education made you?

 

Do you feel formal education is more valuable than informal, autodidactic stuff, or life experience?

 

I personally got far more out of self-education than I did out of my formal education, and homeschooling elementary grades for the past three years has shown me just how uneducated I am in certain areas. 

 

I think I got both more than I realize and less than I expected from college.

 

I am going through the material I want to cover with my children, flipping through my bookshelf of books I bought for college classes and kept, and realizing I really got a broad exposure to a lot of stuff; even if it didn't seem to "stick" in the sense of instant recall, it's all simmering around in my brain ready to help build connections between one thing and another.

 

 

But I don't feel particularly educated, and I feel like a lot of my four years was wasted. I didn't even learn how to read (tackle difficult works and wrestle them into submission) or do math (approach problems with a truly mathematical mindset), not *really*.