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It just hit me how funny that phrase is: it actually admits to school not being the real world! We must have spent so many years in school being told that we were being prepared for the real world that we've come to just accept that school is not the real world and you need those 12/13 years of preparation to be able to deal with the real world (aka, adult life).
It also means that people just assume that ages 6-18 are not spent in the real world and that school must be the place to prepare for this future real world experience because that's what they've been told all their lives (they're in school to prepare themselves for the real/adult world). It's a shame they don't realize how much the real world isn't some future time to live, but here and now and all around us.
As I've said more than once, there's too much life to live for a child to be stuck in a desk most of the day!
The "real world" is where you have to support yourself and be responsible for yourself. The real world is where you have to interact with other adults on a daily basis and have the communication skills to do so. The real world is where you have developed the knowledge to succeed in public life.
Anybody who still lives with their parents or hasn't finished school usually hasn't developed all of these skills. A lot of it has to do with just growing up, but a lot of it is what we learn through home AND school during that process.
At school, students get more opportunities to communicate and deal with strangers and make new friends. Being in a school environment allows them to learn how to live with people one does not familiar with or to befriend with strangers. If you are a home schooler, then the only thing you can do is to study your textbooks and take the exams. You have no chance to experience what I have said above.
I found that when I was home schooled I lacked social stimulation...
So what they may mean is that... when you get into the real world (College, a job...) you might have problems adapting to different people (people who you might have been sheltered from if you are like most homeschoolers) You might not know how to stand up for yourself with peer pressure. You might be rather annoying because you lack social skills...
I have been home schooled, attended a private school, and been to a public school... I found that being home schooled denied me of so many great experiences. I found that private schools didn't give me the "best" education and were a waste of money for my parents. Public schools have there "issues" but I learned far more from my teachers and classmates...
What is with the thumbs down people... stop being lame... Have you been home schooled and attended both a private and a public school? If not then how do you know which schooling technique is best? Stop being lame!
As far as having opportunities to meet new people with home schooling via 4H, youth groups, homeschool skates and tennis and stuff. kids do that kind of stuff when they are regular classrooms in private and public schools...
So I just checked out the kinds of questions you answer here on EduQnA.com... they are all about being homeschooled and christianity... cause you live in a flippin bubble as the result of your homeschool. You don't feel comfortable answering other questions because you don't have life experience.
This mean to catch up with new technology and progress .
Every one has their point of view .
i was homeschool all my life. I have certaintly experienced the 'real world' as lot more than my fellow peers who have gone to school. i got a job as soon as i was 14 and excelled. being at home rather than stuck in a class room with a bunch of other kids and being restricted to act my age, i would often get the opportunity to go to the art gallery, museum, exhibitions ect. i was able to experience the 'adult' world and explore the 'real world' a lot more than school children did. If there is one thing a homeschooled child has its independence, to teach and motivate themselves to study rather than relying on other children and teachers. This also allows the child to grow as a person, allowing there own opinons and those they see around them to influence there view rather than that of their peers.
Im now studying health sciences at university, have a job and am moving into my own place within the year:)
cheers:)
Apparently, the people who use this line feel that in order to be properly prepared for the real world a child needs to spend 7 hours a day locked in a classroom with 29 other people that happened to be born the same year they were.
Part of this important socialization is being told you are NOT there to socialize, although apparently it is, in the belief of the people who use that phrase, the only place you can go to socialize.
There are many other aspects of this necessary preparation, and they are trying to assert that by homeschooling our children are missing out on that.
I agree. (Insert sarcasm here). Public school is a reflection of the real world. (End sarcasm).
Actually, I believe that my homeschooled children are LIVING IN the real world, and are better prepared for it. You are right-the whole world is their classroom. But those that are subjected to public school can not fathom that they are missing out on anything.
Preparing for the real world means that public school is preparing children to live in rest homes. When they get old and unable to care for themselves they will remember the days of their youth when they were taught to be on a schedule and to be uniform in their habits and behavior. They will know how to get along with sharing space, waiting their turn, and raising their hand (pressing the call light) for attention.
I am offended when anti-home school people say that home schoolers are not prepared for the real world.
It's just a more polite way of saying that homeschooled children have no social skills and no interaction skills!
Don't you get sick of hearing it?
Good question, as I see it they may mean preparing them for the work force, and becoming independent adults.
As home schoolers our children receive academics combined with living daily life without being in an artificial environment (schools) that tries to mimic real life.
Since our children have the opportunity to participate in every part of life from shopping to learning how a household runs daily, go to work with, or shadow a parent at work, and help with a home based or small business.
They can participate in volunteer activities that are done during the day rather than only those open to after school hours.
Most finish a high school program in about 24 months, they may use the traditional 4 years if they work, or have many outside activities.
We can go on for a while, but you get the idea,
They are much more self directed, independent, and prepared since they have the opportunity to practice what they learn.
Edit, for sarah may.
For one I do have experience with public, and private schools before going to home schooling full time.
Trust me we disagree; my husband has a Masters in Education as well, home schooling is the better choice for many.
Just in recent weeks several employers have contacted us, and asked if we would place job announcements on our site, because they preferred home schooled teens/young adult because they have found them to be more reliable, and competent independent workers.
So much for the argument of being not being properly prepared, or living in a "bubble".
Teaching students the skills they need to live on their own.Like jobs and bills and mortgage
What they mean is this: the real world is full of money and power hungry people. It is about materialism and every man for himself. It is about haves and have-nots, about givers and takers, bullies and the bullied. If a child is not immersed in it early enough, he/she will not survive.
Homeschooled kids fortunately do not often get immersed in that version of the world, whereas school kids do, and very early on.
Homeschooled kids are indeed in the real world, everyday, and they see, as we do, that it does not need to be like we are trained to think it is. How can we ever make the world a better place if we simply follow along with the crowd? :)
Preparing students for the real world means preparing students to know what they need to know when they grow up so they know what to do.
Thank you for asking this question! I have wondered the same thing myself very often. My children have participated in many of the activities you listed, and yet I can tell someone all of the experiences they have had out in the community, international travel, etc. Only to have the person say its not "real world".
I wonder when the real world became small enough to stuff into a classroom?
The last time I checked, I live on planet Earth and so do my children, I have yet to find any alternate realities or mystic lands like Narnia. I live in the real world with my children and we experience it every day.
Homeschoolers end up holding jobs and functioning in society all the time, I've never really understood this question.
Well, I guess I sort of know what people mean when they ask it. They picture our kids sitting at home and never relating to anyone besides their parents or a very small group of people with the same beliefs. This isn't my family's way of homeschooling though, so I think the question really stems from a misconception of how most homeschoolers live.
I think that when people use that phrase they are referring to hs'ed kids not experiencing as much of the negative aspects of socialization.
Yes, they aren't. That's a small part of why I hs.
But there are plenty of schools who have 'zero tolerance' policies for bullying/gang activity/drugs/etc, which would seem to indicate to me that constant exposure to this type of thing is NOT in a child's best interest.
Children learn what they live. If they spend most of their waking hours in a social environment that has so much negative about it, then YES they will live to exist that way and will consider it normal. But why would I want this for my kids??
My kids are FAR MORE COMPETENT than others their ages that go to school. [Let's not even talk about how far ahead they are educationally.] My daughter can't drive; she's not old enough for 3 more years; but she can competently run a household in every other way. My son is 11 and isn't a very good cook yet, but can do most other things. They both manage their money wisely. They are respectful and are hard workers. Do you think their future employers would consider them prepared for the real world? I think they will.
I know so many ps students who are completely unprepared. A few days ago I was in a fast-food place with a HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, and she told me she had two dollars and some change, and wanted to know if she had enough money for a soda that was $1.39 + tax. Is this child prepared for the real world? Not at all. She is smart, too, so it is a shame that her education has been wasted. There are so many ps teens I know that I look at them and even though I like these kids as people, I wonder what in the world they will be capable of doing once they graduate. They are not college material because they can't write/spell/do basic math [unless colleges have been dumbed down too, or unless they start with the bonehead courses]. They will have a hard time working at a fast food restaurant. What will be out there for them? I am saying this with great concern, and I don't have any answers here.
I am not sure bu I think that Homeschoolers are more prepared for the "real world" I mean sticking 25 kids in a classroom together for like 7 hours a day How is that supposed to prepare them for ANYTHING! I mean Homeschooler actually get out and do stuff!
Filing income tax returns, paying rent, phone, utilites, food bills. Filing bankrurputcy. Filling out a job application. Doing a job interview.
Your question drew me in, but I'm unclear as to your connection of the "phrase" with regard to "home schooling". I assume someone didn't agree with your choice of educational alternatives. (by the way I am an advocate of home schooling)
But...
I was wondering if it was actually possible to be "prepared for the real world"?
What do you tell an 18 year old kid when he asks, "Now what?"
I find that the "traditional education" (in the states anyway) is inadequate, over emphasized, over priced, manipulative, misguiding, and for the majority of it's students, completely useless with respect to your above mentioned "phrase".
Do you feel you are ready?
Well it is kind of cool being on the outside looking in...kinds, sorta, not really. I do Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, and am applying for a part time job. But, I don't have a social life. I interact great with little kids, adults, pretty much everyone except peers. I have social skills, I just don't have many chances to use them.
I am sorry, but I have to say something because it is really bothering me!
If you were sheltered while you were homeschooled it was probably your parent's fault. Don't blame homeschooling. I was home-schooled for 8 years and I know many people who are home-schooled. (I now go to Public School for my own reasons) They are not sheltered at all, and I wasn't either. My mom took me to many extra-curricular activities and field trips that I enjoyed very much.
Could people realize that home-schooled people are normal people too. Normally they are pretty intelligent!
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