18-year-old homeschool graduate can't sound out words or do basic addition: 'She couldn't calculate 50% of $30. She couldn't count to 30 at her fast-food job.'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Sep 4, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

I have always been a little suspicious of alternative methods of schooling. I know that there are some parents out there who are completely competent at teaching their kids from Kindergarten to 12th grade, but I highly doubt that's the majority of homeschoolers. Most of the time, kids who do their schooling at home would be better off in the hands of an online teacher who can hold them accountable for their work because they're not their mom or dad. 

Most homeschoolers probably fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes of "Kids who are so Harvard-bound that their parents have to homeschool them because no private or public school can keep up with their intellect" and "Kids who spend all day scrolling through TikTok and not attending school because their parents can't bother to enroll them or teach them at home."

Unschooling is one of the worst offenders in terms of educational neglect. Unschooling is "an informal learning method that prioritizes learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning." Now, it might sound utopian for kids to learn what they choose to learn instead of having a curriculum forced on them, but without any real structure, kids' basic educational needs can easily slip through the cracks.

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  • The young woman in this story was basically unschooled, being totally unable to sound out words or do basic addition at 18 years old. She can't even make proper change at her fast food job, which has her Uncle's partner concerned about her.

  • K GLO
    via Olivia Hibbins

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 18 year old with no phonemic awareness. What to do?

    My partners 18 year old niece/nephew, who was "home schooled” (neglected) since 2nd grade is now an adult that cannot read, has no phonemic awareness, and can't do math more advanced than single digit addition.
    via u/Jaqelun
  • Here are some authentic examples of his/her academic abilities in action: Works in fast food, had to count to 30 nuggets, simply couldn't do it fast enough (no skip counting ability)
    via u/Jaqelun
  • THE AREA & INGD LOS SURVEILLANCE Masi Paa McDonald's Family Restaurant Slamet Riyadi-Solo Restaurant General Manager ASTUTE 1 ALLO ELCO
    via Visual Karsa

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Was shopping for clothes, something was titled "venison" and he/she couldn't sound it out and guessed it said "version."
    via u/Jaqelun
  • Is asked to give change at her job, and regularly has to be corrected by customers multiple times in one transaction. Order was $4, she received $20, handed $10 back. When told it wasn't enough, he/she still gave an insufficient amount (don't remember the amount)
    via u/Jaqelun
  • Once again while shopping, saw items were 50% off and looked at a $30 item. Was asked what half of 30 was, could not answer.
    via u/Jaqelun
  • 50% sign on a rack of clothing
    via Samuel Ramos

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The 18 year old is out of high school, so there is no formal education happening unless they are explicitly interested. If it is something they try, where do I even start? Are there classes for adults that happen? Are there online programs for people like this?
    via u/Jaqelun
  • catsgr8rthanspoonies Contact your local vocational rehabilitation office. They'll be the best place to start.
    via u/catsgr8rthanspoonies
  • SuggestionSea8057 Yes, in my area, free vocational training is available up to age 21 for reasons like this.
    via u/SuggestionSea8057
  • PCBassoonist Your local community college probably has an adult education program.
    via u/PCBassoonist
  • younglion4 Some public school districts also have adult basic education that may be useful
    via u/younglion4
  • queen_surly Is this 18 year old learning that you know of? If she is, she may qualify for high school through age 21. Is she aware of how uneducated she is and does she want to learn? If not, there is unfortunately nothing you can do. If she realizes she needs help, then the local community college might be a good place to start to find out what is available. They can probably point you to some assessments to see if she's eligible for high school special ed or if there's a GED program at the CC.
    via u/queen_surly
  • I wonder if this is going to be more common with homeschooling becoming more common. Was listening to a podcast and the number of people pulling their kids out of public schools and homeschooling is enough that it is hitting school budgets hard. Dunning-Krueger being a reality, I'm afraid that the most ignorant and least capable parents are the ones that think they can homeschool.
    via u/queen_surly
  • Jaqelun OP The details are somewhat unclear to me, but I believe she was actually given a high school diploma or equivalent degree. Enrolling in high school is no longer an option, whether she is LD or not. She doesn't really seem interested, her family was awful and she is addicted to weed. Needs it to function and has destroyed her attention span with social media. She seems pretty content with her academic level unfortunately
    via u/Jaqelun
  • fightmydemonswithme Then there isn't anything you can do. Unfortunately once they hit 18 you cant force any form of education on them. If they really want to work on math skills, khanacademy.org is a great free website that walks through tons of basic math all the way through college level math, as well as other subjects. But you can't make this person do it.
    via u/fightmydemonswithme
  • Superb_Jaguar6872 The homeschool amd unschool subreddits are uncomfortable places to stumble into. Some parents seem to have it under control and are doing well but enough throw so many red flags. A ton of parents of 5 yo prioritizing their wants over their child's needs.
    via u/Superb_Jaguar6872
  • queen_surly Somehow the homeschooling sub showed up in my feed. Honestly it was so disturbing. People who could barely write saying their kid had a bad start and they impulsively decided to pull them from school and homeschool with absolutely no plan or clue. About three people a DAY go on there and say "what curriculum should I use?" I mean, I waste too much time here but the idea of asking Reddit how to educate your child is crazy. I muted the sub--it was too hard to read.
    via u/queen_surly
  • princessfoxglove You're getting a lot of advice here about how to go back to basics, but honestly it sounds a lot like your friend is not interested in learning those and it will take a lot of effort that relies on them to want to. If you want to get the most bang for your interventional buck, you should teach them how to use text to speech and a calculator and other adaptive tools. You could also see about getting them in therapy because until the healing happens from the massive amount of negl
    via u/princessfoxglove
  • SophisticatedScreams Yeah-- there's no evidence this young person wants to improve. My best advice is to remain friendly with them and let them know that if and when they want support in this area, you are here.
    via u/SophisticatedScreams
  • Ok-Luck5900 In my hometown, there were yearly tests to make certain homeschoolers were actually being schooled. It's a shame this happened.
    via u/Ok-Luck5900
  • Wally365 If the young person is unwilling to engage when you suggest improvement, try to focus on what they like to do and can do. You might be able to awaken the interest to reach a goal. (Sports, video games, music, etc.)
    via u/Wally365
  • Mrs Taylor66 Alot of people operate at this level of ability. Some even less.
    via u/MrsTaylor66
  • Responsible-Test8855 Nothing. Not your circus, not your monkeys. Her parents need to want her to do/have better first. I went through something similar with my husband's half-sister. I finally figured out that those kids are having the life she wanted them to have, and if she wanted better, she would have gotten off of her bat and provided it.
    via u/Responsible-Test8855

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teens school reading teenagers work addition niece educational percentages homeschool education Reddit math illiterate schooling young adult
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