Just curious...
Those of you who homeschool, what do you do when your kids are 16 or so, ready to start looking to apply for college?
One of my techs is homeschooled. Very bright, knows two languages fluently, excellent writing and communication skills, best math skills I have ever seen in a non-college grad. Knows her science quite well. Her parents pulled her out of school because other kids were picking on her badly.
Two things that bother me deeply about her education:
1. Her parents, who were well-educated in Russia, had no idea how to get into college in America. They knew nothing beyond the basics about the field she wanted to go into (science), or how one goes about getting into a profession in America--of course, in the USSR you only had to belong to the Party and have good family connections. Their idea of college was just not workable in America, and especially not for the field. Now, although she's certainly bright enough and educated enough to attend any school she likes as an undergrad, she's wasted a lot of time and doesn't have the family support she needs to go to the really good schools. Her parents' lack of knowledge about the professions and the culture are basically wasting her career. Even a barely-competent high school guidance counselor would have been able to shepherd her into schools more appropriate for her interests than the local community college.
2. She never did learn how to deal with bullies or how to tailor her behavior to a situation. She showed up for a job interview for a white-collar job in jeans, and when our sexist manager bullies her mercilessly she either practically hides in a corner or has a big emotional crying fit. She doesn't stick up for herself, she has almost no character judgment, and, well, when confronted with a difficult situation, she cries. No one ever made her learn how to cope with just regular life, where most people are not nice and you have to size up situations before jumping in to them.