Most people who don't homeschool worry about those who do based on the argument that their children will not get the socialization they need. Those of us who do homeschool and some enlightened people who don't, understand that socialization is easy to get and not all of socialization that happens in schools is really all that great anyway.
Where I think homeschools lack is in deadlines and reporting. At least mine does and I have to create ways to compensate for these deficiencies. I find it is very easy to just go along and never see any improvement or accountability so I like doing reports. One and Two do reports where they research topics of their choice but they work with me on the internal time lines to meet the end goal of having a good report ready on a specific date. They present this report to the family on (for Two) the last Monday night of every month. They are graded heavily on these reports. We also have piano recitals. It this way, the kids learn how to face a hard deadline and they learn the process of preparing and reporting on what they have learned.
As I watch my girls struggle through these reports, I see them learn a lot about themselves. For example. One did a report on King Leer (she is 12) she made paper doll puppets of each character, summarized the play scene by scene, photographed the paper dolls and recorded her voice acting out the summarized scenes. This represented 3 months worth of work. It was a lot and she learned she often bites off more than she can chew. She learned how important it is to give herself 2 weeks cushion in the schedule and she learned how to set her own internal deadlines, not to mention how to use some new software on the computer to record her voice and manipulate her photos.
Her reports since then have been less ambitious--Her next report is due the end of November. We'll see how it turns out. The next report is a history on Malaysia.
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