You need to be able to convince your dad that he is doing you more harm than good by insisting on his policy. I guess it also depends on your age. You need let your dad know that he is possibly harming your future and your ability to make a good living when you become an adult.

Is your dad maybe a holdout from the 60’s or 70’s? Or maybe a flower-child wanna-be? It kinda sounds that way. Yea, public school does have it’s problems, what with gangs and idiots bringing guns to school. But overall, it produces a well rounded individual. Just be careful of the ever dangerous peer-pressure. Don’t let yourself be talked in to doing things you don’t want to. You will regret it.

You might even show him the above response from COCOA and tell him that’s what happens when you are home schooled! If that doesn’t convince him, nothing will.

Mhm, it sounds like maybe one of those daddy’s little girl scenarios then, where dad can’t deal w/ the idea of his little girl growing up. He wants to keep you trapped in a little bubble in time where things remain the same. Good luck getting out of that situation.

Find out all the good information about your school district. Their website should have lots of statistics about the good things happening at your school. Or call and ask them to mail you information about the district. Tell them why you need the info.

Also, I’m sure there’s things at the school that you could take, that you couldn’t learn at home. How about a foreign language, band, career internship?

Remind him that these teachers are experts in their field. For example, I’m a language teacher. Although I’m highly educated, I would never attempt to teach my children any other subject! I know math, I know science, I know history, I even know pedagogy (“how” to teach), but I am not *highly qualified* to teach those subjects. Likewise, I wouldn’t attempt to do home dentistry. There are experts out there, people *trained* to do what they do, and I leave it at that. Not to step up on my soapbox, but it’s insulting for me to hear that a parent could teach as well as I can.

I think the first step for you, is to get your dad into the school and talking with some adults about it. The friends part comes after that… when you can reconnect with your friends, maybe your dad can come with you to their house and meet their parents. Once he sees that they are a part of good, decent families, maybe his attitude will change.

Good luck!!

But whether you want to identify wild mushrooms is not the issue- schooling no matter what type, exposes you to lots of issues and ideas. Even in a public or PRIVATE school, you will have to study things that seem irrelevant to you.

If he has a real problem with public then ask about private school. He is going to have to let you out of the house sometime.

I know homeschool kids who are the most socially energetic people I’ve ever come across, and I’ve come across public school kids who are truly…scary. No social skills whatsoever. It runs both ways, folks.

It sounds like you are well able to express yourself in writing, so I’m guessing that you’re at or near high school age. At this age, you should be fully able to do self-imposed studies. You want to learn about wild mushrooms? Grab books from the library, do research online, get some field guides. Find some resources that will allow you to learn about them.

Quite frankly, my 5th grader does this. He has his core studies that he has to do one way or the other (math, language arts, history, science, etc.) but after he’s finished with those, he can focus on other studies that suit his interests. This year he’s studying Spanish, Greek, world cultures, Biblical feast days, and art history of the 15th-17th centuries.

He’ll also be taking AP and CLEP courses when he gets older – either at home, from a co op, or through concurrent enrollment. Homeschooling does take more effort, but it is completely possible to get just as broad an education, if not more so, than in a school setting.

Is it possible for you to get involved with a homeschool group in your area? They should have opportunities for you to take classes (from credentialed/degreed teachers), partake in volunteer opportunities, attend field trips, take lessons, participate in game nights, be a part of sports, etc. There are social outlets out there, but you may need to do a few minutes of searching. Honestly, in one Google search I found 13 different groups within 20 minutes of my house.

What is keeping you from still hanging out with your old friends? Even if they’ve made new friends, they really shouldn’t have any problem with still including you. They probably miss you as much as you miss them – and they may have a circle of friends that you’d enjoy hanging out with, as well. As a homeschooler, your schedule is pretty much under your control, so I think the ball is kind of in your court.

I think that it may really be more that you’re unsure of initiating social contact without the school environment sticking you together with a bunch of kids…it’s ok to go out and do that. It’s fine to call up your old friends and see if they want to hang out, and it’s ok to get involved with a group to make some new friends.

Honestly, this is something that you’re going to have to learn to do. When you get to college, classes aren’t going to be formed by who lives in what neighborhood, you’ll be in with all different types of people that you don’t know – and you’ll have to know how to strike up a conversation with them. When you get to a job, you’ll be with people of all different ages and backgrounds – and you’ll have to be brave enough to initiate a working relationship.

It does sound like your dad’s a bit controlling, so maybe talk with him to see if he’d be willing to ease up a bit and let you start to learn to take responsibility for your education and your life. Start with a 50/50 sort of deal – if you meet his requirements responsibly, will he let you do activities x, y and z? Point out that you’re not trying to rebel against him, but that one of the important things about homeschooling is to be able to tailor your curriculum and your life around who you are, what your interests are. It really sounds like that’s what you’re looking for.

If he’ll agree to give you more freedom, go with it for a while and take on responsibly. If after that you still want to go back to school, then you’ll have a track record of responsible choices to back you up. He’s your dad, and I can’t guarantee that he’ll say yes, but at least you’ll have more on your side.