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  3. /Homeschooling hits record numbers
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  3. /Homeschooling hits record numbers
Nov 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM EST

Homeschooling hits record numbers

bilsbie
282 points
771 comments

Mood

informative

Sentiment

neutral

Category

news

Key topics

Homeschooling

Education

Trends

Discussion Activity

Very active discussion

First comment

1h

Peak period

22

Day 1

Avg / period

11.5

Comment distribution23 data points
Loading chart...

Based on 23 loaded comments

Key moments

  1. 01Story posted

    Nov 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM EST

    3d ago

    Step 01
  2. 02First comment

    Nov 20, 2025 at 8:53 PM EST

    1h after posting

    Step 02
  3. 03Peak activity

    22 comments in Day 1

    Hottest window of the conversation

    Step 03
  4. 04Latest activity

    Nov 23, 2025 at 1:41 PM EST

    13h ago

    Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (771 comments)
Showing 23 comments of 771
cc-d
3d ago
2 replies
Fantastic.

LLM's have revolutionized the way people learn and utilize what they have learned. The future is 8 year old material science lads doing chemistry in their step-mother's RV

deadbolt
3d ago
1 reply
More likely the future is a bunch of children not knowing jack shit and suffering other abuse.
nvahalik
3d ago
I've had to re-learn math skills long forgotten to help my kids with their school work. It's been an interesting experience.

The expectations for home schooling are different and are, in some ways, aimed more towards reality. My son finishes the bulk of his work in an hour most days and then has time for 2 instruments, learning C++, Rust, and Python, community/church participation and more.

JohnHaugeland
3d ago
You might be surprised. The studies say it's a primarily negative impact, especially in math and college attendance.

https://responsiblehomeschooling.org/research/the-test-score...

jmathai
3d ago
4 replies
I do think Covid forced people to ask questions they hadn’t before.

We have sent our kids to private, poor quality and top rated schools.

We saw a stark difference between the poor quality and higher cost options. No surprise.

But the reason we are considering home schooling our younger kids was surprising. It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or better.

That’s just education. The social situation in schools is ludicrous. Phones, social media, etc. what a terrible environment we adults have created for kids to learn both educationally and socially.

Home schooling has answers for ALL of that.

aidenn0
3d ago
1 reply
> But the reason we are considering home schooling our younger kids was surprising. It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or better.

What's the reason?

jmathai
3d ago
1 reply
I think we could teach them as well as the school does. And more importantly, we can provide a better environment for them to mature socially.
Aboutplants
3d ago
“And more importantly, we can provide a better environment for them to mature socially.”

Take it from someone who was homeschooled from pre-k through high school, you will absolutely not provide a better social environment. I was so unprepared to handle the social dynamics in casual, educational or professional that it took years and years of active work to put myself in a position where it wasn’t an absolute detriment to my success. I have no doubt you can educate your children well, it’s every other aspect of humanity that is typically missed out on and can lead to unintended consequences.

Esophagus4
3d ago
3 replies
How are you thinking about the socialization aspects of homeschooling vs not?

I imagine part of the benefit of schooling is to socialize children with their peers so I’m curious how you thought about it.

AnimalMuppet
3d ago
1 reply
We homeschooled. When we wanted to socialize our kids, we shoved them into the restroom and beat them up for their lunch money.

I kid, but there's a real point: So much of the socialization is bad.

More: Kids aren't going to be kids forever. Does socialization with a bunch of other kids prepare them for the adult society that they're going to go into?

estearum
3d ago
Well it should, yes, given that socialization is the result of shared social experiences.

Experiencing bullying is (unironically) one of those shared social experiences that create bonds with people (whether as victim, perpetrator, or witness)

These are real social dynamics that actually exist in adult life, and I suspect people who are totally blindsided by them are maladapted

anon291
3d ago
1 reply
My kids get more socialization than me. Our parish homeschool group has daily activities. Monday is two hour playgroup. Tuesday is extracurricular classes at the parish. Wednesday is catechesis and play time. Thursday is free. Friday she does a day long camp with an outdoor education program (not parish based). All added up, she spends more time with kids than I did and doing more interesting things
Esophagus4
3d ago
Oh I see - I guess I hadn’t thought of homeschooling that way (in a group with extracurriculars).

I always thought of it as parent / tutor + kid = almost all interactions.

Thanks.

jmathai
3d ago
Having put 2 kids (10th and 8th grade now) through a couple school options…the socialization in schools is pretty bad.

Kids from home schooling families we know are as polite or substantially more polite than those in the school system.

AnimalMuppet
3d ago
One of the key issues in school is classroom size. A teacher with 30 kids is handicapped as a teacher compared to one with a smaller class.

Let's say your family has four kids. As a family, that's large. But as a classroom size, it's really small. That gives you an advantage as a homeschooler over a public school teacher.

mcphage
3d ago
> It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or better.

6% of American think they can beat a grizzly bear in a fight. That says absolutely nothing about the bear, and says a lot about how misinformed people are.

csense
3d ago
1 reply
Anecdotally, two factors at work here:

- Schools have stopped educating in favor of test metrics, making sure the worst students pass, and pushing borderline indoctrination of controversial, left-ish values.

- With remote education during the pandemic, people have more visibility into their school's day-to-day teaching.

It's hard to fix the US education system by political means. If you have the ability to do so, it's comparatively much easier to pull your kids out and homeschool them.

mcphage
3d ago
> pushing borderline indoctrination of controversial, left-ish values

I wonder what sort of values they’re indoctrinating their kids with instead.

deepfriedchokes
3d ago
1 reply
This is how a significant portion of the population gets radicalized by their parents. It needs to be shut down.
nvahalik
3d ago
1 reply
All kids are indoctrinated. As parents do you want to have control of that or not?

With that attitude you might as well just tell parents that they shouldn't participate in society!

bdangubic
3d ago
the purpose of education is largely opposite of indocrination (plus few other things). if your kid is being educated is such an environment you should move (or pay for private education).
bentt
13h ago
Everyone wants to make generalizations, but all this really means is lots of families find homeschooling to be the best choice. What factors into that can vary wildly.
JSR_FDED
3d ago
Timmy’s job will be done by AI when he grows up, but at least he’ll have fun a social skills

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ID: 45999842Type: storyLast synced: 11/23/2025, 12:07:04 AM

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