Homeschooling

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  • #618062
    i love coffe
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    What are your thoughts on homeschooling children?

    Until what age would you do it?

    What are some requirements for home schooled children?

    Social factor, pros/cons, etc.

    Thank you!

    #1161604
    Sparkly
    Member

    Its an excellent idea. I would do it until the child is in college. They need to be able to learn the same amount as a normal person their age at school. Make sure they have friends to hang out with after school. Just make sure the person learns more so that way they get the main benefit of homeschooling which is learning more than others the childs age.

    #1161605
    iacisrmma
    Participant

    In the USA, each state has their own set of requirements. Outside the USA??

    As for the Yeshiva Curriculum……….I am sure that there are Rabayim and Morahs who will tutor children privately. For how much? Don’t know but probably $80 -$100 an hour.

    #1161606
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    In NY is more difficult to Home school as there are requirements to be a home school teacher, In other states not so much like in Texas the government cannot regulate home schooling

    $80-$100 is way to high for a tutor, I think the going rate is $25 or less

    #1161607
    akuperma
    Participant

    Home schooling is legal in the United States. A factor in its favor is that to win in court, a state would have to show that the standard used to prevent home schooling was the same as the one under which they close down a public school for underachievement, so in effect, the American “social pass” makes it impossible to meaningfully regulate home school. Local bodies often resent home schoolers since it deprives them of revenue (lost since otherwise the student would go to public school, and bring in lots of money in aid), but a clearly hareidim parent won’t generate a problem.

    The costs can be prohibitive. If the parents are college educated (degreed or not), with a strong yeshiva and seminary problem, then fine – but otherise they might end up hiring tutors. If the mother of the house wants to home school, and would otherwise be a housewife, the cost isn’t great, but if she is giving up $100K to stay home with the kids, its likely that schools are cheaper.

    As Jews have an ancient tradition of parents learning with their children, home schooling should be easier for us (among goyim, the idea of parents teaching their children is considered weird).

    #1161608
    Meno
    Participant

    i love coffe,

    I hope you don’t plan on teaching them spelling…

    #1161609
    nishtdayngesheft
    Participant

    $25 for a professional tutor?

    A) What planet are you living on?

    B) You would have a the chutzpah to offer so little to a professional?

    You know it was offered by him and not requested by the tutor?

    #1161610
    Abba_S
    Participant

    You can probably get home schooling via the internet but you would have to get it approved by your local board of education but it would be free. I paid $20 6 years ago for a tutor and that was at the yeshiva. It’s got to be $40-50 if the tutor has to go to your house. I don’t see what you gain. At 2 hours of Jewish studies a day that’s $500.00 a week more than $2,000.00 a month. In regular yeshiva he would get 4 hours and I doubt you will pay $1,000.00 a month. He may have trouble with his social skill as he doesn’t interact with children his own age.

    #1161611
    Pringles
    Member

    ” Make sure they have friends to hang out with after school.”

    How on earth do you expect them to make friends if they don`t go to school?!

    A social life means EVERYTHING to a teenager nowadays. Home-schooled children are unlikely to have it. Also, one can learn a lot of social skills from peers and a lot is picked up from friends in school.

    #1161612
    nishtdayngesheft
    Participant

    It was clear that he was guessing and had not actually ever inquired because he “guessed” what the going rate is. Which is not supported by facts.

    #1161613

    So try this – “$25 is very low for tutors. They earn more in the range of $50-70 per hour, which is still far below what they are worth.” – just as you might have responded had the comment come from ANYONE else.

    #1161614
    nishtdayngesheft
    Participant

    You will note that no one else had written such a low ball figure.

    it speaks to a certain mindset.

    One has to respect Rabbeim and Teachers. That is who does professional tutoring.

    #1161615
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    I wish I admired someone so much that I could stalk them

    #1161616

    It depends on your community, obviously. $25 strikes me as very low but not unheard of, whereas $80-$100 strikes me as unreasonably high. Remember, we’re talking about limudei kodesh, not high-level physics or mathematics. I would have guessed in the $30-$50 range– but again, that’s based on my community only.

    Homeschooling can be a great option for a large family, where the marginal cost of educating each additional child in a yeshiva day school can really take a financial toll. For a smaller family, less so. But it does depend on the earning potential of the homeschooling parent.

    The social aspect is definitely very important, but I don’t think it’s impossible to make friends without going to school. You still have shul, youth groups, Yiddle League or other sports organizations, etc etc. If there are other homeschooling families in your neighborhood, you can organize gatherings with them. Also, some kids start out in school and then transition to homeschooling, in which case they have already made friendships that they just need to maintain. Or even if they were homeschooled from the beginning, it’s possible that they at least went to daycare or nursery and the parents can encourage those friendships to continue as well, as the children grow older. It’s very doable if you’re committed.

    #1161617
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    Remember, we’re talking about limudei kodesh, not high-level physics or mathematics.

    I cannot tell you how that line disappointed me

    #1161618
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    We pay $50-$60 per hour for a Rebbe, less for an adult non-rebbe.

    #1161619
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    Unfortuantly Syag, There is the laws of Supply and Demand

    There are much more Rebbes avaialble than High Level Physics or mathematics tutors so the price is lower

    #1161620
    akuperma
    Participant

    If you paying for tutors (or together with other families, hiring a teacher), you are running an alternative school, not home schooling. You will also discover why schools are cost-effective, especially if both parents can work full time (bluntly tuition is much less than what one can earn working with the time that one is not home schooling).

    If you are truely “out of town” and there is no acceptable school locally, you have to home school. The question is then whether the parents have the background to cover all subjects, including Torah subjects. While there are “canned” curriculum for secular subjects, they need to be adapted for use with frum kids, and there is no “canned” curriculum for Limudei kodesh.

    #1161621
    i love coffe
    Participant

    So from what I’m hearing is that it would be much cheaper for children to be home-schooled. Would you however take that route at the cost of the children’s social life?

    AND

    Has anyone ever done limudei kodesh at school/yeshivah and limudei kol at home? Do schools make such arrangements and lower the tuition cost for that?

    #1161622
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    i didnt get the impression she was speaking of supply and demand. If she was that would be great.

    #1161623
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    If you wanted to save money you would send your kid to Public School and hire a tutor Limudei Kodesh. I think some people are already doing that as they cannot afford the sky high yeshiva tutitions

    #1161624
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    i don’t care how many people are doing that, you should never recommend such a thing to anyone

    #1161625
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    I didnt say I recommended it, I just said people are doing it.

    I suspect if the tutiton crisis is not solved, more people will do it as they cannot afford the tutition

    #1161626
    i love coffe
    Participant

    I personally know of people that had to home-school (online) their children because Yeshivah was too expensive and the limudei chol education that they were receiving was not so good at these yeshivas. However, these children missed out on making friends and having a set schedule to learn Torah.

    My thoughts are being pulled in two directions because of this. I value education and think that it is really important but the social factor is equally as important. I only wish that there were Yeshivot that value these two things as I and so many other people do. If tuition has become such a crisis, why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? So many children end up in public schools and they could go off the derech.

    #1161627
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Homeschooling is usually better than factory schooling.

    #1161628
    iacisrmma
    Participant

    I just spoke to someone who is a “professional tutor”. Yes, I was guessing. She said the range here in NYC is $75 – $100.

    #1161629

    Syag Lchochma, yes, actually I was– sorry for the misunderstanding!

    I love coffe, people ARE addressing the tuition crisis. It’s just that nothing has worked yet.

    #1161630
    Sparkly
    Member

    iacisrmma – in general in New York tutoring is EXPENSIVE.

    #1161631
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    At $100 per hour, 2 hours per day, that is $1000 per week, $4000 per month or $108,000 a year

    Most people cannot afford that, Even Ramaz is cheaper than that

    #1161632
    aishet chover
    Participant

    Melamed Academy is a great option for those wishing to homeschool. They have a kodesh and chol curriculum and are registered as a New Jersey school.

    They service grades k-12.

    #1161633
    Sparkly
    Member

    aishet chover – they mineswell continue with regular schooling.

    #1161634
    Abba_S
    Participant

    While the Melamed Academy may have Judaic course suitable for the younger grades, I don’t think it can compare to a brick and mortar yeshiva.. It relies on the parent supervising the child’s time to insure he performs the work Staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day may result in vision problem. They will also be lacking in social skills. It is doubtful he will be able to learn in a Bais Medrash or College or even be gainfully employed.

    If you are looking for a cheap alternative to the high cost of yeshiva education, go to Rochester. They claim they can give all your children a world class yeshiva education for $1,000.00 a year. That is assuming you move there. Maybe you can find a job there or commute it only 4 hours from Monsey. Houses are cheap there. It’s worth looking into.

    #1161635
    yosefaleichem
    Participant

    i love coffe:

    I preface below with the disclaimer that I was actually homeschooled. My mother home-schooled both me and my younger brother (with the help of tutors for limudei kodesh) until high-school, and she home-schooled my sisters even through high-school.

    I think homeschooling should be viewed similar to how we view schools. Meaning, not every school is perfect for each child and the same can be said for homeschooling. Some children will not do well being home-schooled while others will flourish in such an environment.

    The benefits to home-schooled are many, but I will try to list some of the best: More time with your children, siblings growing up even closer to each other, individual and specialized attention in learning, moving at your own pace (faster or slower depending on the child and subject he is learning), additional time to develop other talents or interests.

    The disadvantages could be the following: It is VERY hard to home-school children in an undisciplined home, hiring tutors for those subjects which you cannot teach, motivating children who are otherwise unmotivated to learn.

    Notably, I did not list lack of social interactions as a disadvantage nor should you be worried that your children will be socially gauche as a result of home-schooling. Unfortunately, people mistakenly assume home-schoolers lack social skills and that they don’t have normal social outlets. This is not the case, especially in the Jewish community (as jewishfeminist02 pointed out). I would go even further to say that since home-schooled children aren’t only surrounded by their same age group (like children in specific grades in school) they are often much more comfortable and adept with speaking with people outside their general age range.

    #1161636

    Abba_S, I lived in Rochester for a bit. They do indeed have a wonderful yeshivish community, with amazing and affordable schools, including a Chofetz Chaim.

    Dunno if you were serious, but I would really not recommend attempting to commute from Monsey…the houses are cheap and depending on your field, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a job. They have a recruitment committee that can help. Google “torah rochester”.

    I do have to disagree with your assertion that a homeschooled child who takes online courses will be unable to go to work, get a college education, or learn in yeshiva (in other words: his life will be over and he will be a failure as an adult). Of course homeschooling is not for everyone. But it does work well for many children, including with the online supplement. I do not believe that the coursework involves a daily 8 hour block of computer time.

    #1161637
    Sparkly
    Member

    As someone who was homeschooled for a year of high school i would not recommend it.

    #1161638
    i love coffe
    Participant

    Sparkly- What did you not like about it?

    #1161639
    Sparkly
    Member

    i love coffee – Your not around your friends, you have to teach yourself everything.

    #1161640

    Well, presumably, your parent is teaching you…

    #1161641
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    That’s assuming you’re the only one homeschooled, you’re actually being self-schooled, and your friends are in a factory school. This is not always the case.

    #1161642

    Huh?

    #1161643
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Some communities exclusively homeschool and only some homeschooling is self-teaching.

    #1161644
    Sparkly
    Member

    jewish feminist – the only “teacher” i had was my brother. but it wasnt really teaching it was more helping me if i needed help which he helped a lot. I got a bunch of textbooks and filled them out and did a bunch of math and got help from him.

    #1161645
    Abba_S
    Participant

    Sparkly If the only teacher you had was your brother you turned out well. When I studied for CLEP Exams I studied from a textbooks but never wrote in them. I filled out the workbooks that accompanied them. You have to be very disciplined in order to study by yourself.

    How did you know you answered the question/ problems correctly unless someone is grading you?

    #1161646
    Sparkly
    Member

    abba s- because the books i got was from an online school and they tested me. but you cant really learn from online schools. and i am very disciplined otherwise i wouldnt be in college right now.

    #1161647
    Francorachel3
    Participant

    Homeschooling is a Terrible idea! Don’t do this to your kids! They need to grow up feeling like they belong, like they’re like the other kids, that they’re not “different !” They need the social interaction day in and day out; there is no way to replace the socialization factor that school provides! Having them at home all day, not having recess to share with the other children, and feeling like the outcast will be terrible for their self esteem in the long run! And yes, this advice comes from a licensed social worker who has experience with children and this Issue.

    #1161648
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Why can’t you learn from online schools?

    #1161649
    Sparkly
    Member

    reb yidd – same reason why you cant learn from online colleges.

    Francorachel3 – as someone who was homeschooled for a year i agree 100%.

    #1161650
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    You can homeschool your kids with a bunch of other kids. And as a kid who was bullied in school (by the teachers) and later homeschooled, I was happier homeschooled.

    #1161651
    Sparkly
    Member

    reb yidd 23 – right before i was homeschooled i had a lot of friends. when i became home schooled i had much less time to spend with them and slowly lost contact with most of them. that was not fun.

    #1161652
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    It’s not right for everyone. But neither is mainstream schooling.

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