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I was wondering if those of you that home school could share why you chose to do so? I am currently on the fence...Did you home school from the beginning or did your kids go to school & then you pulled them to start home schooling? Any other information would be great too, how hard was it to get started, challenges, etc. THANKS!
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oooo!! oooo!! I'll answer during nap timeHee hee! Look, I have a signature! -
Ok, my children are no longer in school and are now adults living on their own but IF I had it to do over again, I would home school.
For my DD, I would have home schooled the first few years and then let her do public school in her upper middle school to high school age. She was/is so social that I think it would have had a profound affect on her to NOT have the ability to socialize with her peers and be a part of all of that.
For my DS though, he struggled most through middle and high school so for him I would have home schooled during those years FOR SURE.
HE was NOT social but because he didn't want to be and had no desire to "fit in", he was bullied a lot. I think he is a completely different person today because of the negative experiences he had in those early to late teen years.Comment
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I have spent a lot of time in the public school systems both teaching and as a parent to my two older children, one who graduated last year and one who is a freshman in HS this year. I no longer believe that public schools are teaching our children what they will really need to know for the jobs we will have available for them in the future.
I want to teach my third child how to think and not what to think, how to problem solve and not how to solve problems. But most importantly I want to nurture and cultivate his love of learning so that he will never stop wanting to learn. I don't want him to see learning as a separate thing we only do at school but rather an important and pleasurable endeavor that he is compelled to do because he wants to, because it's interesting and fun and because he loves it.
I have seen public school squash that love of learning out of children time and time again. And that makes me sad.
My son is hungry to learn right now. His favorite books are anatomy books and books about science and space. He is already well acquainted with the periodic table and that our universe is carbon based and what carbon is. He knows the different parts of the brain, what they do. He knows the difference between DNA and RNA. Did I mention he's 5? He knows these things because he asked about them and I supported him in learning about them by providing materials for him to explore. He knows about negative and positive numbers, about infinity, the number line. He can do addition and subtraction with hundreds.
I never ever have told him that anything he asked about was too hard for him. And that's what I think public schools do by accident. They lay out curriculum (now totally based on ridiculous state tests) and never deviate from that and they can't! Even if the teacher wants to. Even if she sees children interested in a subject, if it's not on the curriculum they don't have time for it. If they did their children wouldn't be taught to take the state tests and then the school could lose funding and they could lose their jobs. Barf. I'll never be a part of that system again. It's all about metrics and education isn't always measurable. It can be very unpredictable and still be happening.
For now until my son is 8 or so we will continue to "unschool" him. I use a method called "strewing" which is leaving interesting materials around for a child to "discover" on their own. This makes the learning more meaningful when they find it themselves rather than being presented by an adult. I also use the Reggio approach in terms of teaching him art techniques so that he is able to express himself. After that we will continue with Project Based Homeschooling like in the book by Lori Pickert. She also writes the Camp Creek blog so if you are interested definitely check it out, it's awesome!Comment
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We only homeschooled 1 out of 4. I could have easily homeschooled all 4 but it was hard enough with 1 while running a childcare. It was extremely hard for me to balance and out of the homeschoolers in my area I literally was 1 of 2 that worked and we both did childcare. It took a great weight of my shoulder when dd started school. I loved the time we had together, totally would to it again, but without the childcare. To much for me to try and do both.
Homeschooling for us went from k-6 grade and in 7th grade dd started school. Didn't want to at first (cried, begged to homeschool, just wasn't happy) but eventually found somethings they really like, probably realized what they were missing and only asks once in a great while now-especially since HS is next year.
DD made Junior Honor Roll, Citizenship Award, Perfect Attendance Award, some others (just can't remember all), won the science fair, yearbook committee, and had teachers recommending what to do in HS for classes. By the way that was the first year of school.
This year-Junior Honor Roll, Picked specifically for certain classes by teachers, Perfect Attendance, has 72.5 hours of volunteer work, yearbook committee (the only person to be there for every meeting but 1 for the entire year), does any extra credit they can get.
The last two years have been a wonderful experience for dd and I'm excited she has been able to experience them. She has done things that she wouldn't have been able to do if she had homeschooled. She is extremely shy, even family member comment on it but does well when needed. In fact today she is going to her first pre-try practice for the HS cheerteam!happyfaceEach day is a fresh start
Never look back on regrets
Live life to the fullest
We only get one shot at this!!
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bumping up, would love to hear more. I have a DS starting Kindergarten in the Fall. I know he is really excited to go and my plan was to send him and see how he does. If it doesn't go well, start homeschooling with 1st grade. He has a severe speech delay but continues to make progress. I am just very worried for him...He is such a good kid, smart, super funny.
It's one of those things where I don't want school to crush his spirit. We have had him in therapy since he was 1 1/2 and the one thing I have noticed is he never shows his full potential with other teachers but he works so hard for me. He went to the developmental preschool for half a year before the teacher realized he knew all of his ABC's. He gets very shy and quiet/won't talk and if this continues he could fall so far behind.Comment
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I don't homeschool past the preschool years. For me it's because I don't think I would have the necessary discipline to get everything done! If anything, you could call me an "afterschooler". I have a hard time "teaching" my own children - kwim? And I think my expectations of them are sometimes out of line. I have many friends that homeschool, and I think it's great for them.
One homeschools for mostly religious reasons, and she wants to be the only one affecting their value set. (I come from more of an open-ended, I'd like my children to experience many different personalities and develop their values based on these experiences).
Another homeschools just one of her 4 children. My understanding is he is very bright, but was always in trouble at school. I don't think it was ever her intention to homeschool, just what ended up to be the best option for her child.
The last reason I don't homeschool, is my 2 schoolagers are very social and love to be with their friends, and they are thriving in the environment. I guess if this changed for any of them, I would adapt and do what seemed best.
Kind of the opposite of what you asked, hope that's okay!MnMum married to DH 9 years
Mum to Girl 21, Girl 18, Boy 14.5, Boy 11Comment
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I wanted to address the social aspect of home schooling brought up by MNMom. It's been a common misconception that home schooled children are not socialized or that it's difficult to socialize them. However in my experience this isn't true. Now if you only consider socializing to be in a large peer group like in school then yes, that may or may not be difficult depending upon how many other home schooled kids live in your city. But true socializing doesn't mean only with their peer group. Children can socialize with younger or older kids and adults as well.
In our city we have a very large home schooling association. Anyone can join, it's free and they have a yahoo group site where people list get-togethers, sports like soccer, and all kinds of clubs (chess, math, science, etc that compete at area and state levels) and groups that get together weekly or monthly. They also have a discussion group like this website where you can get info and tips from other families who have homeschooled longer or you can post curriculum for sale, buy used curriculum, pretty much anything you like. It's a great resource and you might have the same in your area, a quick google search or asking another home schooling family would let you know.
Also there are tons of workshops and classes out there by and for home schoolers which are fun. We recently participated in a Lego Robotics one which was fantastic! My son was in a class one hour per week with boys his age plus we brought our friend along. The teacher taught them to build and program lego robots and they had a really fun time!
In any case, there are many ways to socialize your home schooled child be it classes, groups, museum trips, playground meet ups, etc.Comment
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I actually want to home school but DH isn't supportive. He's one of those people that has to see statistical data (impartial source not by a homeschool team) in order to believe it's a better route educationally.
I wish he saw it from where I'm sitting so to speak. I really want to do it.Comment
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I didn't mean to infer in any way that homeschooled children aren't socialized. My 2 girls would be whining all day that they had to be at home with me, and not in school with their friends, is all I meant by that
I had a coworker (a fellow nurse), tell me that I was doing my 4 year old harm by not choosing to put her in a preschool to "socialize" her. I was honest and said it would not be worth it for our family, I had a baby at home and didn't want to have to get to preschool 3 days a week, only to have to turn around and pick her up 2 hours later. We instead did lots of playdates, and did activities with other homeschooled preschoolers. That bugged me that she had the audacity to make that statement to me. Funny thing was, she was a homeschooling mother herself - but her children were in late elementary school, early junior high
MnMum married to DH 9 years
Mum to Girl 21, Girl 18, Boy 14.5, Boy 11Comment
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I've been trying to answer this all morning, just haven't been able to finish a post! Oh boy, you asked about my favorite subject!
I have homeschooled my kiddos from the start. DD9, DS6, and DD4. I have several reasons and am adding to the list almost daily. But I would guess the biggest reason is to give my children an individualized, real life education. My dd was at 4th grade reading level at 1st grade, but math is the bane of her existence. She is still struggling with simple multiplication. DS, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. He loves math (especially using money). But he is just now getting close to a 1st grade reading level. But all of that is okay, because grade levels are mainly for "group care" purposes. IYKWIM.
I started with a virtual academy. It's a public school that allows the children to do their schoolwork from home. Each student is assigned a teacher, who meets with them on a regular basis and often will teach a "class" online. This was great for us at the beginning, because I had just had my younger dd and needed as much help and accountability as possible. Then, as I grew as a homeschool mom and my children started to reveal their learning styles, I found that the VA didn't give us the freedom we so desired. In fact, they were becoming more and more demanding each year. Plus my daycare was full last year, which was ds's K year. It was tough for both me and him because 2 of his friends were in care here, so he preferred to play with them than sit down and learn phonics with mom. (Who knew? Right?) So as of last fall, I took the leap to be an independent homeschool. In CA, that just means I fill out a simple affidavit and submit it to the department of education. Everything else is up to me. We have morphed into a relaxed, almost unschooling family. My children have flourished. There is no pressure. They read for pleasure. They come up with science experiments, check out documentaries from the library, work in the garden with me, help with meal plans, shopping, cooking, cleaning. They really enjoy working on time4learning. They have lots of friends from church, are involved in volunteer work and have dance/gymnastics classes. They even view the daycare as a family business. We are very close and I actually enjoy being with my children so much. Not saying I don't need a little break once in a while, but for the most part, I enjoy their company.
My biggest challenge has been lack of support. There aren't many homeschooling groups in my area. The ones that do exist are very exclusive, which is fine, but they wouldn't include me for various reasons. I didn't get a lot of support from my mother, who dislikes homeschooling for some reason. It's kind of funny, though, because my sister homeschooled all 4 of her kids, 3 of whom are happy productive adults now. But as she sees that other people are becoming more and more aware of homeschooling and the benefits of it, it's not so scary to be different anymore, I guess. Whatever....
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If you have more specific questions about curriculum, legalities, etc. I would be more than happy to help out!
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No, I thought you brought up a good point that many people think as well so I wanted to pose a different opinionI didn't mean to infer in any way that homeschooled children aren't socialized. My 2 girls would be whining all day that they had to be at home with me, and not in school with their friends, is all I meant by that
I had a coworker (a fellow nurse), tell me that I was doing my 4 year old harm by not choosing to put her in a preschool to "socialize" her. I was honest and said it would not be worth it for our family, I had a baby at home and didn't want to have to get to preschool 3 days a week, only to have to turn around and pick her up 2 hours later. We instead did lots of playdates, and did activities with other homeschooled preschoolers. That bugged me that she had the audacity to make that statement to me. Funny thing was, she was a homeschooling mother herself - but her children were in late elementary school, early junior high
not intended to disparage your choice to send your kids to school or anything I just wanted to mention my experience. Home schooling isn't for everyone and I certainly wasn't in any position in my life or financially to home school my first two older children though I would have loved to. So I'm not public school bashing and if any of my posts before sounded that way I certainly don't mean them to.
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I will be homeschooling my kinder girl next year. We did a very traditional private school for preK and they are quite challenging with the curriculum...she is already writing in cursive, sounding out words and such. I liked the school but I wasnt completely happy with the religious aspect of it and I was also frustrated with the transportation issues, the long school day and some other issues. Academically, she will be just fine at home I think and we will be using the same curriculum next year, just learning from home. Socially, she still has a lot of opportunities
My second child will be in a specialized preschool next year due to delays. They will be incorporating some therapy and other further attentions there that I can not give. I will be doing a preK curriculum at home with her but definitely going at her pace.
I really am looking forward to the individualized academics that come from homeschooling. We also have options for a local HS group, music lessons in our home as well. I really feel that my kids will be much more well rounded than typical kids their age.Comment
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