Why Did You Choose To Home School?

[Sprouts]

iTs funny, because the reason we bought our house in this location was because we are in the best school district. My daughter is 5 now and we have been homeschooling her this year, actually my husband has...its a lot of work and I couldn't do it while doing daycare, my husband was the one that actually pushed it the most. My family does not support it and annoyingly try to convince us to send her to school for "socialization"....seeeing the way our culture is headed I am not sure if I want my daughter socializing with many children and the attitudes that come with this culture We will be enrolling her in classical conversations program that meets once a week, and continue homeschooling her for first grade. I can't wait to close up shop so I can devote myself to my 3 children entirely

[SilverSabre25]

Okay naptime didn't work out, haha.

My DD is in public school for kindergarten but we're going to homeschool her starting next year in first. She's on the books officially as gifted/advanced, and having skipped a grade. Yes, she was tested cognitively and fairly extensively. She started kindergarten as a 4 year old and didn't turn 5 until late October.

In no particular order, our reasons for switching are:

-I'm not happy with our assigned school and am unable to open-enroll her in any other district school because of daycare (I can't transport her).

-I don't trust that this school has the resources to adequately meet her advanced academic needs (have heard from other parents of gifted children at this school that this is an issue)

-Kindergarten is NOT meeting her needs academically--she's working solidly on math and reading at a first grade level and her work from school is nowhere near what she can and DOES do at home.

-I want to be more in touch with my child and her education. So far in kindy I have very little information about what they are doing or learning at any one time.

-I value things the public schools don't. Art, music, physical activity, games, fun, laughter, handwriting, spelling, geography.

-The public schools don't want to encourage/support kids who are doing well, and her teacher actually TOLD me once not to work with her on a more advanced skill because she "is on track to meet the end of year goals on time". Um, no.

-budget cuts in our district closed the magnet school program that I would have enrolled her in to get her out of our crappy school.

-She's in KINDERGARTEN...and has already dealt with bullying. I've had to deal with her teachers and bus drivers twice this year to stop bullying and teasing from other kids.

-My sister lives nearby and also homeschools, so she can take DD with her boys to homeschool gym and co-op

-I want her to learn good study skills and work habits--something that's not going to happen if she skates through school like I did with everything being easy all the time.

-The other day when we talked about homeschooling she said quietly, "I'm excited because then no one will call me names."

-between gym, co-op, girl scouts, gymnastics, and daycare I think she will be plenty socialized.

-homeschooling will allow her to learn at HER pace, for us to go back over a topic as much as needed until she GETS it. She won't get lost in the system, in the shuffle.

-standardized testing and NCLB. Worst things for the American school system EVER.

[countrymom]

I wish I would have homeschooled my 2 younger kids. I'm finding that the school is not good anymore (when we moved here 11 yrs ago it was one of the top notch schools) right now my mdd is suspended from school because the teacher hit a student, they've gone thru 4 principals in one year, the teachers a jamming things down their throats and not giving them time to comprehend it. My ydd is in grade 3, she had 3 days to study a whole science unit and the test is today, there was alot of info, and she had a spelling test today and that was 20 words. My ds, well I pay for tutoring in writing. I still can and I am sitting on the fence about it, they will be going to another highschool than their peers because I want them to be offered other things besides sports.

[Cradle2crayons]

Why

I homeschooled my oldest for two years and now she is in school... However after next school year she will be coming back home for homeschooling. I do it because I love to know what my kids are learning and personally I don't think the schools give them the well rounded education they need.

[Country Kids]

I wish I would have homeschooled my 2 younger kids. I'm finding that the school is not good anymore (when we moved here 11 yrs ago it was one of the top notch schools) right now my mdd is suspended from school because the teacher hit a student, they've gone thru 4 principals in one year, the teachers a jamming things down their throats and not giving them time to comprehend it. My ydd is in grade 3, she had 3 days to study a whole science unit and the test is today, there was alot of info, and she had a spelling test today and that was 20 words. My ds, well I pay for tutoring in writing. I still can and I am sitting on the fence about it, they will be going to another highschool than their peers because I want them to be offered other things besides sports.

Why in the world is your mdd susupended if a teacher hit a student? That makes no since what so ever-:confused:

[clep]

My son went to public school until the end of grade 3. We removed him for various reasons and after seeing his work come home we are grateful we did.

In the beginning it was hard as he hated learning and doing work. His penmanship was terrible as his teacher did all of his writing for him so he was very behind on that. He was a c student.

After two months of being home schooled he made the honor roll. We do a fully aligned program so he has teachers, report cards and regular testing. I wanted him to still be able to experience many aspects of a formal school education.

He is still on the honor roll this year and his time management and critical thinking skills have greatly improved. He loves learning, and his penmanship is now at his grade level.

We have the ultimate flexibility in our lives and he adores home schooling. His social interactions have improved as well as his relationships. There is a common misconception that home school children are isolated, and some are, but many aren't. No human requires all day social interaction regardless of age. My so used to be around bullying, and some pretty poorly behaved children who are not making the best choices of their lives partly due to developmental stage and partly due to lack of direction and teaching. I would much rather have our son learning about life from people who are driven, successful and focused. He goes to Cubs, Cadets, Swimming and Tae Kwon Do. Even the children are going on a path of life that is more productive which is the environment I want to see him around.

The threat around our house is that he will have to go back to school. :: Since he has flourished in all areas, I would say our home school journey has been a success.

[hhdc]

I wish I could home school my kids. How does it work with the day care? The people I know that home school are out and about during the day at co-ops and other activities. Are there things you do in the evenings. I have a 10 year old and a 7 year old.

[cheerfuldom]

I wish I could home school my kids. How does it work with the day care? The people I know that home school are out and about during the day at co-ops and other activities. Are there things you do in the evenings. I have a 10 year old and a 7 year old.

I think you will be surprised at how well homeschooling can work. There are a huge amount of options and many of them offer support so its not like mom is sitting next to them 24/7. Options such as virtual school and curriculum taught by way of teachers on DVD. Many have access to support lines and even teachers on call via internet chatting or tutors. Plus homeschoolers in general are in school for less hours than traditional schooling. Teachers spend so much of the day just crowd controlling and stuff. When it is just your kid, you can get right to the work immediately. It doesnt have to be done during particular hours and of course there are options for activities during the evening. One of my local options are university model schools. You pay for only the classes you attend. So homeschoolers can do quite a bit at home and then just come for music, higher math, languages or other items that parents need support with. It is not like the old days when mom was a slave to her kids education and homeschooling families were isolated and had few options. One of my mom friends does DVD schooling with her two kids, i think they are 6 and 8 and the two kids do a vast majority of the work on their own with no hands on direction and mom just looks over the work for corrections. some curriculums you even send in the work and dont do any correcting yourself. there is a huge variety out there!

[Cradle2crayons]

I homeschooled my daughter for first grade after a terrible kindy year at a local public school. After that we moved and I put her back in school this current year in a different school. I do like this school better but I did give her the choice to come back home after next year. I'm pretty sure she will choose to come back home but I did ask her to give it her full commitment. She's had it both ways and she loves to home school the same reasons I love it. So well see after next year