If I learned anything from this thread it's that some of ya'lls co-op homeschools seem more like small, decentralized private schools that have a couple hundred kids and no fixed brick and mortar location. To me, that doesn't seem like homeschool any more; even tough it falls under the home school umbrella. However, it goes to show you that the homeschool industry saw an issue that needed to be fixed, and expanded to fill the void between the 1 parent/1 kid scenario and the small private/public/charter schools.

My old-school experience with homeschool from the 70's and 80's was what a lot of people on this thread had. Mom sitting at the table with a socially awkward kid that didn't have any friends because they didn't socialize with other kids from school. Maybe that kid played in a rec-league sport, but back then, club sports weren't the big business they are today and you basically got whatever your area was running. On the flip side, my kids that are about to graduate high-school / just graduated high school had home school friends that were in small co-op's in our area (nothing the size of what some of you guys are talking about). Those kids were still a little awkward, but no worse than some of the other friends my kids had at the time. The big difference to me is those kids had lots of opportunities to socialize in the hundreds of club sports that are available today.

And I think that covers it up until last 6’ish +- years. Technology changed the parameters, just look at the modern work place. Hell there are at home flight simulators that you can log hours on flying. Pretty much learn to fly solo via sim now.


few good things that covid did show or prove, remote education via engaged parents is one of them.

People sharing their impressions of something the way it was in the 1970's but applying those impressions to today need to consider how much else in life has changed in the last FIFTY years.

Both my children have excelled in school so far, both very involved with sports and other school activities…

With that said, if we were in the same financial situation and job situation (wife now works from home 90%) 10 years ago we would 100% homeschool.

The freedom it gives your family to travel and gear their education more to their strengths and challenge them more is very appealing.

I believe both my children but especially my oldest have been hindered by the low expectations and unchallenging curriculum.

Then add in all the crap they have to deal with as far as drama and being exposed to the kind of crap jr high brings, it becomes even more enticing.

As long as you make sure your children are involved in plenty of group activities, sports, church activities etc I don’t see much down side..

School whether public, private, or home is very simplistic and mirrors the real world. You get out of it what you put into and will only meet the expectations set by the ones at home. There are doctors, lawyers, Wall Street people, NASA Engineers ect that come from each avenue. The one thing they all have in common is their parents weren’t willing to tolerate the minimum. A 70 was not good enough.

If you prefer a private education or to home school then its yours to pay for. Vouchers are a joke meant for the upper class. You have the means so continue to do as you choose. The system does not need to be changed just to cater to your wants.

IMO the most important aspect of a public school system is being able to properly handle and navigate all that drama. That is real life and will happen in the workplace. Like everywhere else there falls a natural hierarchy and it’s hard for kids to be thrown into that for the first time as adults.

It’s a nasty, gross world out there but unfortunately we all have to live in it.

Just a Tuesday at Spring isd.



https://x.com/amiriking/status/1778961333699895348?s=46&t=dxAyRrvehO6uhdIaGTZQXA

Since the victim is a school administrator, should be a third degree felony, yes?

Public schools aren't equal. I would have no problem sending a kid to the rural schools here. As for sending a kid in Fort Worth to Paschal, Arlington Heights, Tremble Tech, South Hills ect ect, those are some legitimate dangerous places and there are a lot of kids from very nice neighborhoods that have to go there.

I was very happy to be in the wsisd. Fort worth schools are crap.

Western Hills was always nice until the apartments at LVT/Calmont went in. That's all it takes. Some apartment dwellers and then the schools GTH.

They were fine till the air force left. Now the migration from como ends up there. I rarely go south of 30 on LVT.

They are talking about closing the elementary school my kids went to. No one has moved, all kids are now older. No apartments around.

You spent 8 years in public High School ??

My youngest is thinking about it. She has 3, with the oldest being 4. I have zero doubt that she would be, pretty much, the best homeschool mom that has ever existed, but, I have the socialization concerns listed above, and, more so, concern about unrelenting stress on her, without ever a break whatsoever. As with any family, you'd have to know the details of their family dynamics to fully grasp the situation. If the husband, father of these 3 sweet little grandchildren of mine, isn't a bi-polar narcissist, I'll eat your hat. But I digress.

A similar thing happened at the elementary school my mom taught at. The neighborhood kids aged out and the parents didn’t move. So the school was forced to bus in all the apartment kids from the surrounding area. The other schools on the area got better, but hers went downhill when all the apartment kids showed up. It was pretty normal for her to have kids in her class that had moved two or three times during the year. She also had kids that started the year in her class, moved to a different school, and then finished the year in her class when they moved back. Thankfully she retired, but that school never recovered and it’s a dump today.