Public/private? Not sure. Haven’t thought about that much, but I can’t think of a good reason to pay more for private, particularly without the religious motivation.
Behavioral: great points and I can think of examples where I’ve known home school kids to interact with others through various sports organizations or clubs.
Rebellion possibility: good to know and thanks for sharing your own experience growing up as well.
Wife: she would be homeschooling, not me, so it comes down to deciding whether she continues to stay home, and if so… how long.
Education: great questions. I’m a mechanical engineer and would feel quite comfortable teaching up/through high school chemistry, physics, math (geo, alg, calc), control systems, [basic] computer programming, english, and probably some others I’m not thinking of. I should have mentioned this, but I think I’m only really considering this up through middle school anyway. I think high school is a big enough jump in several areas (responsibility, freedom, potential for more long-lasting friendships) that it would be a good thing for a kid to enter the school environment by that time. Also, as you point out, it’s almost guaranteed that teachers there will be better than me at most subjects if not all of them.
In general: I agree that I will have a role no matter what, as well. I’d like to invest a lot in teaching far more than what goes on in the classroom and have learned a lot from reading LW about trying to emphasize practical applications of knowledge and tools, not just carrying out equations in a vacuum and having no idea what they mean.
Side note on religion: my wife is still very religious. She seems to have eased up on the determination to raise my kids religious… but they still pick up quite a lot from her as she prays at home when I’m not there. They pretend to read the Bible, bow their heads before meals, etc. I’m wary of this impact on their future ability to remain open minded to evidence based reasoning when it comes to this area. It makes me a little wary about them being home with her all the time.
I really appreciate the comments. They are very helpful in opening me up to the various facets of this topic as I pursue further research.
With regards to the side note on religion, that sounds fairly similar to my own upbringing. My dad was fairly nonreligious, maybe deism is the right word. Haven’t talked about it with him all that much, but definitely not Christian. My mom, on the other hand, is quite religious. Not a fundamentalist, she’s a biologist and believes in evolution, etc, but still definitely gave me and my brother religion. I can’t say that that was fantastic, but I started being a rationalist as I transitioned from a Christian to an atheist. If your wife is raising your kids religious, they might yet get some benefits from it, even if it’s not what your wife intended. Emphasis on might, though.
Thanks for the additional comments. Yes, it’s a tricky question. She seems to have shifted from a “Definitely will raise religious” to “Will simply do what I do and if they ask about it (e.g. what prayer is, god, etc.) then I’ll tell them what I believe.” We’ll see how this plays out, but I think telling them about (if that’s really what she does) will be a far stretch better than instructing them on or teaching as fact. Does that make sense?
I’m glad this happened, as I was in a tough spot. I tended to think that my options were a) both teach equally that our positions were true, b) me let my wife teach religion and I say nothing, and c) teach proven rational tools but not anything about religion.
I thought c) was by far the best option, but also thought a) would have been more harmful than b). I don’t think whiplashing a kid between two sides at young ages would have been helpful. It seems we’ve migrated toward c, which is great.
There’s my off-topic ramble for you—thanks for your comments.
Great reply. To your points:
Public/private? Not sure. Haven’t thought about that much, but I can’t think of a good reason to pay more for private, particularly without the religious motivation.
Behavioral: great points and I can think of examples where I’ve known home school kids to interact with others through various sports organizations or clubs.
Rebellion possibility: good to know and thanks for sharing your own experience growing up as well.
Wife: she would be homeschooling, not me, so it comes down to deciding whether she continues to stay home, and if so… how long.
Education: great questions. I’m a mechanical engineer and would feel quite comfortable teaching up/through high school chemistry, physics, math (geo, alg, calc), control systems, [basic] computer programming, english, and probably some others I’m not thinking of. I should have mentioned this, but I think I’m only really considering this up through middle school anyway. I think high school is a big enough jump in several areas (responsibility, freedom, potential for more long-lasting friendships) that it would be a good thing for a kid to enter the school environment by that time. Also, as you point out, it’s almost guaranteed that teachers there will be better than me at most subjects if not all of them.
In general: I agree that I will have a role no matter what, as well. I’d like to invest a lot in teaching far more than what goes on in the classroom and have learned a lot from reading LW about trying to emphasize practical applications of knowledge and tools, not just carrying out equations in a vacuum and having no idea what they mean.
Side note on religion: my wife is still very religious. She seems to have eased up on the determination to raise my kids religious… but they still pick up quite a lot from her as she prays at home when I’m not there. They pretend to read the Bible, bow their heads before meals, etc. I’m wary of this impact on their future ability to remain open minded to evidence based reasoning when it comes to this area. It makes me a little wary about them being home with her all the time.
I really appreciate the comments. They are very helpful in opening me up to the various facets of this topic as I pursue further research.
Happy to help.
With regards to the side note on religion, that sounds fairly similar to my own upbringing. My dad was fairly nonreligious, maybe deism is the right word. Haven’t talked about it with him all that much, but definitely not Christian. My mom, on the other hand, is quite religious. Not a fundamentalist, she’s a biologist and believes in evolution, etc, but still definitely gave me and my brother religion. I can’t say that that was fantastic, but I started being a rationalist as I transitioned from a Christian to an atheist. If your wife is raising your kids religious, they might yet get some benefits from it, even if it’s not what your wife intended. Emphasis on might, though.
Thanks for the additional comments. Yes, it’s a tricky question. She seems to have shifted from a “Definitely will raise religious” to “Will simply do what I do and if they ask about it (e.g. what prayer is, god, etc.) then I’ll tell them what I believe.” We’ll see how this plays out, but I think telling them about (if that’s really what she does) will be a far stretch better than instructing them on or teaching as fact. Does that make sense?
I’m glad this happened, as I was in a tough spot. I tended to think that my options were a) both teach equally that our positions were true, b) me let my wife teach religion and I say nothing, and c) teach proven rational tools but not anything about religion.
I thought c) was by far the best option, but also thought a) would have been more harmful than b). I don’t think whiplashing a kid between two sides at young ages would have been helpful. It seems we’ve migrated toward c, which is great.
There’s my off-topic ramble for you—thanks for your comments.