Reply To: Homeschooling

Regarding study of tomorrow people hire rebbi for fee hours, depending on father’s ability to teach children. It takes a tiny fraction of the time to teach a child one on one in accordance to personal needs than it takes in a classroom setting. There are also online classes that many people use for both judaic and secular subjects. Older children can also take advantage of the many shiurim and learning programs available in the neighborhood as well as online.

Homeschooling is as expensive as you want it to be. Perhaps if it only one child you are homeschooling it can end up more expensive if mother leaves her job to care for one child. but of you have many children it is difficult to imagine how can it possibly be more expensive. Most subjects covered in school do not require special tutors. But by homeschooling children get both time and financial ability to pursue extra curricular interests. As opposed to education system that chews up information into tiny bits for children, then asks them to swallow it and then spit it back. Homeschooling allows for child led approach where children have time to think, explore, and learn to study on their own.
I have never seen such a phenomina that homeschooling children have a hard time in groups or any kind of social situations. It is exactly the opposite. My children get to interact with wide variety of people as opposed to people exactly like them, their age, their background, in the same uniform (like real life). Therefore my children are the most well socially adjusted children that I know. They do not have the inhibition that I see in so many children in my neighborhood. My children play with all kids in the neighborhood who range from chassidish to secular. They are comfortable with all ages, including many adults who we have over as shabbos geusts. And I think that is the most important chinuch they can ever get. Real life does not resemble a sterile classroom.
As for feeling ‘normal’ , let’s be honest, there is no lack of children that are made to feel not normal by the school system. If homeschooled kids don’t feel ‘normal’ that is not something that is inherent in homeschooling. In my opinion it is very important to teach children that they do not have to be like everyone else in order to be ‘normal’. This idea that everyone has to be cookie cutter same is one of the ugliest trends the frum scosiety has developed in the past generation.
Teachers in school are often very poorly equipped to teach. People I know who go into chinuch are regular people who do not have more education than an average mother. They often have less.
True mothers get tired of dealing with kids without break. Mothers also get tired of having to work, then deal with kids all evening and wake up for babies at night. Etc. All mothers get tired. Father’s also need to be involved. Hiring babysitters and cleaning help as often as necessary is a tiny price to pay for the many benefits children get by spending their childhood stress free in a family setting as opposed to in a mass production one size fits all system.