I know, I know. My childern are only 3 and 1, but I’m already giving serious thought (& prayer) to their future schooling. We have many options in this area… and we also have a state that is extremely encouraging of HS’ing, while interferring very little in your choice of curriculum.
My sister-in law, who will hopefully comment 😉 Home-schools and my Aunt as well. I have 100 THOUSAND (exaggerated for dramatic effect!) fears about my abilities to home-school. What if me attempting to home-school would just be a journey toward a large trainwreck?
I have so many questions! I decided this would be the best place to ask them. Please, if you know someone who would want to contribute to this survey, ask them to come comment with their answers. I may not be the only one out there wondering about this, and the more feedback the better! We can learn from your personal experience.
Here goes:
1. Did you always know you would home-school?
2. What led you to the decision to home-school?
3. What age were your children when you decided to take the home-school plunge?
4. Did you have any fears? What were they? Were they realized?
5. Do you know a lot of other home-schoolers in your real-life community? (cyberworld does not count for this question!) 🙂
6. If you could name one thing that inspired you most to home-school, what was it?
7. How do you choose your curriculum?
8. Are some of your children easier to home-school than the others?
9. Lastly. Do you feel anyone is capeable of home-schooling? And do you feel every child is capeable of home-schooling? What would be an exception?
Also- if anyone else is considering this and has any other questions feel free to add them!
Thanks so much! (in advance)
mommy zabs 
Hi! I was looking at most used tags and ‘children’ led me to your blog.
I was homeschooled from 1st grade until this I graduated this year. There are many pross and also many cons. The biggest pros include:
My siblings and I all have very defined personalities, we didn’t have the daily influence of peers, this allowed us to become very sure of who we are.
We know how to work things out. As your children get older they will learn to homeschool themselves, with a little guidance, of course. I took a few classes at the public school last year and I was able to work out the things other students needed explained to them.
I loved the freedom. I was able to work a full time job my senior year, public schoolers could never do that!
The biggest cons:
Most homeschool students are horrible at managing time. They are allowed to sleep in and stretch their school work over the whole day. This leads to trouble, but can be avoided!
It is harder to maintain a social life. I struggled to make good friends, and I feel like a may have missed out on things most kids were involved in. This can be avoided as well; it is important that your children are given the oppurtunity to find a ‘group.’ Depending on where you live there are sports teams, theater groups, bands, and educational teams for homeschoolers. Even if it takes some time of trial and error, find something your child likes to do and friendships will follow.
I hope that helps!
-Mary
Mary Justina… what great feedback. Thank you so much. Most the homeschoolers I know are very involved in the community. And my children have a huge network here through our church and through the friends I have had since I was little (their kids! :)) So fortunately we are in a position that they should remain very involved… However, if we had to move who knows? I will never forget your advise should we choose to home school. Thanks so much!
I had asked one of my blog friends about her homeschooling journey and she responded with a whole post! After that one of her friends responded with a post. I will like to them both here in case you are reading and would like to read them. Good stories for sure.
5 Kids and a Dog
Mom Loves Being at Home
enjoy!
When we decided to teach our daughter at home, I was concerned greatly about my abilities (I sometimes lack focus) and having accountability (I always lack discipline!) and because I was well aware of my weaknesses, so we opted to use an e-school (also called a virtual academy). It is NOT technically homeschooling, mind you, because we use taxpayer funds for the curriculum and have to take part in state testing every year, but there is little to no state intrusion other than that, and we teach her at home every day. We do have a teacher to go to if I hit a wall teaching something (and I have) and we are supplied with everything we need. It is wonderful to have a schedule to follow and some social activities for her to make friends and such. This isn’t available everywhere—I am in Ohio—but it is a good option if you live in a state where they exist and you are looking for an option somewhere in the middle.
Now, this isn’t for everyone!! I have friends who homeschool instead of using an e-school because they want absolute freedom to pick the curriculum and no one looking over their shoulder. I totally get that and support them in it! We’ve just found in OUR family, the e-school works best.
The reason we originally chose to keep our daughter home was that she could read already at age 4 but they weren’t going to let her start kindergarten till she was almost 6 (a late Sept birthday) so we decided to use the e-school for kindergarten when she was 5 and thought it would only be for one year. Ha! It is now the end of her 3rd grade year and we are still going strong. I love having her home. She still has her innocence, when many other 8 yr olds know about sex or Paris Hilton or whatever, my kiddo still plays with Barbies and sleeps with a teddy bear every night.
I never planned to school her at home, but God worked so many things out to make it happen. I know that He will eventually make your decision easy for you. Somehow, someway, you will know what to do. 🙂
You read my post on how I got started homeschooling. No, I didn’t even CONSIDER homeschooling before we took the plunge! I was actually quoted once as saying “Those people are NUTS!” 🙂 The Lord has a sense of humor. One year later, I WAS one of “those people”.
I didn’t really have any fears or doubts; I was frustrated with the school and she was doing better while I tutored her at home. This particular child is also my most difficult as far as homeschooling goes. (She will be a sophomore next year and is in school, and will most likely remain there.) My others are great. Every child is different. The comment above about homeschooled kids using time poorly can be very true! The key is balance. If your very bright student is slacking off you’ll know it. If you have a kid who struggles, then working all day may not be out the realm of “normal” for him or her.
Personally I feel ANYONE can homeschool as long as they realize that it is a time commitment. This is something you have to make a priority, especially at first. That may mean turning off the phone and asking your mom to not “just drop by” before lunchtime. Take field trips with your kids and turn them into educational outings, but try not to spend so much time OUT that you’re never HOMEschooling. Choosing curriculum really is a matter of considering your child’s learning style and working with that. You’ll have some great hits and some terrible misses. Sell what doesn’t work and start again. Above all, pray the Lord will lead you to the tools that will work for your family, and to another family or two that you can share interests with. I’ve been fortunate to attend a church with many homeschool families, in a community that has literally hundreds of homeschool families. Even connecting with one mom who has a child the same age as yours can lead to so many blessings. We’ve done science co-ops with a couple of families over the years, complete with field trips and dissections and all sorts of neat stuff. Keep your eyes open for opportunities! 🙂 And have FUN!!!
Thanks for all the valuable information. Missy I have heard of that program and am definitely considering it! 🙂 Momma knows- you are so blessed to have such a huge network!
i was home-schooled for five years, and that was how many years ago?? schools are 100X worse (okay, not worse, more secularized) now than back then…boulder, co case in point.
anyway, we are blessed beyond measure to be in a little town with a private school of our faith that goes until 5th grade. without that…no doubt i’d be seriously considering my alternatives. and even with that school, i know that nothing is perfect and much is required on our part to stay on top of their education. as an active and persistant parent and the first teacher here at home.
i know that my mom would tell you that she wouldn’t have thought she could do it for anything…no college background, little faith in herself. but with my dad’s 100% support she did an amazing job…i don’t know, i don’t think i turned out so bad:-)
My wife and I never home schooled and never seriously considered it. I have some friends who did home school and highly recommended it. One of my son-in-laws was home schooled and I trust him with my duaghter (a BIG statement right there). I think it’s a personal thing, if you want to or not and if you feel qualified.
My friend who home-schooled tapped into a network (I lived in Charlotte, NC at the time) and was able to do field trips and such with other home-schooled children. His experience was very good. I would think that as your children get older, that will become more important.
Here in Greenville, a person at my church home schooled. However, their version of home-schooling was just to let their son drop out early so he could help his dad in home construction work.
I think most home schoolers tend to be conservatives who are upset with the system. Whether you are or not, you may get that label. Can you (& your children) live with that? I don’t mean that judgmental, just factual. If you’re ok with that, then all the more reason to home-school.
I also have tossed around the idea of homeschooling – my husband was homeschooled until third grade. I was a teacher for a few years before I had kids so I also find value in sending your children to school. This can – but doesn’t need to be – become a heated topic. Oftentimes homeschooling families can feel very strongly that what they are doing is right and schooling families feel very stornlgy that sending your child to school is the right things to do.
As far as having the ability to do it, you definitely would. You are connected in so many ways and would be able to get ideas and help from others whenever you needed it – particularly when the children are younger and not into the heavier subjects. I know several families who homeschool and love the flexibility of it. They appreciate having control over the time in their day and not wasting so much time learning to line up or get quiet or what not. Some states offer not only the curriculum to use but also additional funds to purchase manipulatives or classes to enrich the learning experience. They also can provide computers, etc. One thing that draws me to homeschooling families is the closeness between siblings and the independence of the kids themselves.
I firmly believe that there is no concrete right or wrong answer to the question of whether to homeschool or not. I think it is something each family needs to decide for themselves – for some families it may be the best situation and for others not. Whatever you do choose, remember you aren’t locked in forever:)
I don’t see a linkback to my site, but I also made an entire blog dedicated to this post.
http://bloggerings.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/questions-for-homeschoolers/
Thanks for the post!!
Michelle
“I’m already giving serious thought (& prayer) to their future schooling”
I am already day dreaming about cleaning my shot gun when boys come over the house to take my daughter out….lol.
Hi. I have expressed my feelings about your first few questions in a previous blog entry. The question about curriculum kept coming up so I decided to plug a whole post about it. Hope you could jump over sometime.
God had supernaturally given me confidence, way more than my own, even from the beginning, so I didn’t have fears. I think it comes from knowing that it is what you’re called to do.
We have a network of homeschoolers at church, but I’m still looking for more time spent with other H/S families.
I totally agree with Michelle on #9. Well said:)
Thanks for the post and for picking our brains!
I have to leave in a few minutes but I told you I’d answer these so I’m going to try my best to do it before I have to go! 🙂
. Did you always know you would home-school? No, I didn’t even know about homeschooling until a year or so before my oldest would start school. I knew I was interested but didn’t know I would do it.
2. What led you to the decision to home-school? This requires a long answer which you’ve already read on my post that you linked to. 🙂
3. What age were your children when you decided to take the home-school plunge? My daughter was 7 and my son was 4.
4. Did you have any fears? Absolutely!!
What were they? My main fears were that I wasn’t creative enough to teach and that I didn’t have enough patience.
Were they realized? No – I may not be the most creative person but I teach my children in the way that they need and how I am able – and my patience was helped by homeschooling!
5. Do you know a lot of other home-schoolers in your real-life community? yes
6. If you could name one thing that inspired you most to home-school, what was it? Wow! That’s tough! I think the main thing I wanted out of it was to teach based on the Bible – something I knew they would never get in public school.
7. How do you choose your curriculum? We went through 3 different ones before we settled on one. This is something I would go back and do very differently if I could do it all over again. You don’t really need a set curriculum for all subjects in elementary. I wrote some posts about curriculum not too long ago if you want to go check those out. It would take a lot of space to write it all here. 🙂
8. Are some of your children easier to home-school than the others? Both of my children are very similar in learning styles and also in how easily they learn. They are both very bright kids (please don’t think I’m bragging on my kids – this is just a fact based on their schoolwork) and comprehend things quickly and easily. I have been very blessed in that they are pretty easy to teach because of this.
9. Lastly. Do you feel anyone is capable of home-schooling? That’s a tough one too. I think anyone who is trying to do the best for their kids and who has their children’s best interest at heart can homeschool. Just as everyone doesn’t make a good parent though – those that aren’t good parents probably aren’t going to make good homeschoolers. If you have done a good job with your children up to school age why would you think that that will all of the sudden stop? If they have done well under your parenting that will continue to be the case. I could go on and on here but I’m running out of time! haha!
And do you feel every child is capable of home-schooling? What would be an exception? That’s also a tough one. I think any child that you homeschool from the beginning will do well. The longer you wait the harder it might be (notice I said might!) because they will have to “de-school.” If a child does not want to be home (when they are older) to be homeschooled that could be very difficult but as I said, if you start from the beginning there’s no reason why a child wouldn’t do well under your homeschooling care. 🙂
I hope I’ve answered those in a way that helps! I’m one minute past the time I need to go so I’m outta here! 🙂
No Problem! If you have any other questions, let me know. 🙂
-Mary
I’ve written about this before, on the second post on my blog, but I want to answer your specific questions here. Everyone’s homeschool journey is so different. I love to read what lead others to this path and how they go about it on a daily basis.
1. Did you always know you would home-school? No, I always said never based on those homeschoolers I knew growing up, but dh wanted to homeschool from before we even had children. I came around after initially laughing at him!
2. What led you to the decision to home-school? We have a very bright oldest child, who’s very sensitive also, and public school just didn’t seem like the place for him, but more importantly we wanted to give our children a gospel-centered education and be able to pray and study scripture daily, and also from an academic standpoint, be able to let our children progress as they will and not be held back in any way.
3. What age were your children when you decided to take the home-school plunge? I like to do things in an orderly manner, so at 3.5 we started focusing on a letter a week, progressed into reading, and last summer looking at kindergarten, we figured we might as well continue at home.
4. Did you have any fears? What were they? Were they realized? Of course, I think we all do, but anytime I’ve had a major qualm about anything I’ll find the perfect answer I’m looking for from the Lord, and I know we’re on the right path.
5. Do you know a lot of other home-schoolers in your real-life community? (cyberworld does not count for this question!) I know a close neighbor and a few other families in our valley.
6. If you could name one thing that inspired you most to home-school, what was it? Being able to be free, study what we want, when we want, and not have to answer to anyone’s else expectations, and ours are pretty high.
7. How do you choose your curriculum? Officially we’ve been at it for only a year now and went with FIAR which we absolutely love, I liked the idea of unit studies seeing how we have multiple children, but after reading the Well-Trained Mind we’re on a new path and for now are following its recommendations closely.
8. Are some of your children easier to home-school than the others? My oldest is so much like me, we have the same learning styles and it’s been easy, but I can tell my second son (age 4) is going to be more of a challenge.
9. Lastly. Do you feel anyone is capable of home-schooling? And do you feel every child is capable of home-schooling? What would be an exception?
I think it’s a very personal decision that is not to be taken lightly, and anyone considering it needs to seriously evaluate their relationship with their child, to honestly assess how well disciplined both they and their children are because it’s a major time commitment for parents and children need to respect and be able to learn from their parents, and not slack off because “it’s just Mom.” I wouldn’t say anyone can do it (and only you can make that choice for you), but if anyone wants to and is committed to doing it, it can be successful.
I’m back again. 🙂 Since I was so rushed earlier, I came back and wrote a little more and then just reposted it on my blog so if you want a little more to your answers you can see it there. 🙂
Inspired by momlovesbeingathome, I posted a how/why I homeschool on my blog, too: http://onlysometimesclever.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/why-we-homeschool-and-how-we-got-started/
For your questions…
1. Did I always know I would homeschool? No. But, I started hoping/dreaming while still in high school, myself.
2. What led me to decide to hs? Basically, so that I could give my kids the education I always wanted: the freedom, the excellence, and the support I didn’t feel that I had gotten.
3. I started “officially” homeschooling when my oldest was 5. I also had a 3yo and an almost-1yo, but I didn’t really school them! Personally, I don’t really believe in school for 3 & 4yos.
4. What were my fears, and were they realized? My biggest fear was that my own personal flaws would be a detriment to my kids’ education. In fact, the fear was so great, I almost gave up because of it. But now, as we finish our 5th year of homeschooling, I feel *way* more confident. Now, I’m starting to see the fruit of my efforts, and that my kids are prospering. It’s tough to know how you’re doing at first. … I also had a fear that I would miss something important that I should be teaching them. Related to that, was the fear of choosing the wrong curriculum. Now, I realize that school is a long event. If I miss something this year, there’s always next year! If a curric purchase doesn’t work out as I had hoped, I can always get a different one! What I teach and what curricula I use are important decisions, but I don’t feel like it would be the end of the world if I made a wrong decision. It’ll be OK. My kids will be OK
5. I don’t know a whole lot of hs’ers IRL. However, that’s largely by choice. I mean… I was absolutely delighted to discover that a relatively new family in my church homeschools, and that mom and I have had some great conversations, and our families will probably spend time together in the future. But, most of my *support* comes from online help. Maybe it’s just my personality, but in my experience, hs groups are *way* more trouble than they’re worth. I’ve heard of good hs’ing groups, but I’ve yet to experience one. PLUS, hs’ers can get too… self-focused. I want my kids to have friends in the neighborhood, friends at church, friends… wherever! They don’t have to be exactly like my kids; my kids’ friends don’t have to be homeschooled.
6. What inspired me most to homeschool? I don’t think there was an inspiration!! It was just a drive, a desire.
7. A homeschooling friend helped me choose our first year’s curriculum, after discovering that I was going to spend WAY too much $$ on my initial selection. It worked OK, but I was SSSSOOOOOOOOO much happier to find Sonlight, which a different friend suggested. We’ve been using SL for 4 years, and it’s a perfect fit for our family. Other bits and pieces and subjects I’ve just found along the way.
8. Homeschooling is a lot like parenting: every child has their strengths and weaknesses. My first son drraaaaaaaaagsss his feet, but after a lot of encouragement, produces really stellar, thoughtful work. My second son is very cheerful, and does his work readily, but it’s sloppy, he doesn’t follow instructions, etc. I will say that I got the 2nd son evaluated by a developmental pediatrician, because he seemed to be from a different planet, and I was unsure that I could teach him. Well, it turned out tht he has a really odd learning disorder (Nonverbal Learning Disorder), but once I understood that, I found that I could teach him with very little trouble. (I hope that answers your question!)
9. Is everyone capable of homeschooling? Yes. Should everyone homeschool? I don’t think so. Honestly, I get nervous when sloppy, poorly-educated people tell me that they want to homeschool. I’ve given away some curric. on Craigslist, and some of the responses I’ve gotten from supposed homeschoolers are downright scary. I think, “Ack! You homeschool your child???” Yet… is it any worse than what they’d receive at a public school? Probably not. And children just so, so, so greatly benefit from loving, parent-involved families, even if, frankly, they’re dumb families. So, it’s hard to say. And, YES! I think any child is capable of being homeschooled. Even ones with special needs and/or learning disorders. My son’s developmental pediatrician has told me that the *need* for ADD meds and the like would decrease by at least 60% (his estimation) if those parents would homeschool their children. Just because a child can’t function in a group setting (a crowded, busy classroom), and needs to be medicated to function, doesn’t mean that that child would need the same medication at home. Homes are more adaptable. Parents are more adaptable to the needs of their children. No one is going to love that child more than the mom, and no one is going to be a vigilant and diligent for that child’s benefit than the mom. A child might need some outside help/assistance/expertise (for example, I have my LD son in occupational therapy, to which he goes every other week). But, just because he needs therapy doesn’t mean that he should be in school.
Hope that all makes sense!!!!
~Karen Joy
Not homeschooled and I don’t have kids, but I’ll weigh in.
Many of my law school friends were homeschooled. It was advantageous in that many of them lived in areas with bad schools (not crazy inner cities, just poor quality). They were able to avoid a lot of the problems that come with public education. One of the big issues is applying to college: SAT scores take on an exaggerated importance because there is no other objective criteria to judge the students. If your family doesn’t have a lot of money, your kids will have a hard time getting merit-based scholarships, as many of those are dependent upon grades. (Correspondence courses at a university can be helpful to establish some baseline, as can taking, if possible, AP tests during the junior year.)
I got a great education at my public high school, but the social atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired. Watch “Mean Girls,” and realise that it’s not too far off. The boys are just as bad, too. 😦
1. Did you always know you would home-school?
I didn’t think I would ever homeschool.I had friends that did,in the 80’s. It seemed like a little weird to me, to anti-social. My friends did well in their studies, but they always wished that they had been in public or private school. So I never thought I would homeschool.
2. What led you to the decision to home-school?
When Chloe was about 4ish I really felt God speaking to me about the homeschooling. At this time I did not know any homeschoolers,I didn’t have a positive intrest in it either, so I knew it had to be God and not me coming up with this idea. So we prayed about it, as a family,and Chloe homeschooled for kindergarten.
3. What age were your children when you decided to take the home-school plunge? 5years old.
4. Did you have any fears? What were they? Were they realized?
I was scared that I wouldn’t be fast enough, that I would over whelm myself, overwhelm Chloe, that I wouldn’t beable to teach her everything she needed to know. At times I overwhelmed myself, I procrastinated at times too. It can be hard with two children.(Gabe was a little over 1year old and he was very needy.) But what did help was I looked hard for “dummy proof” teaching methods. That seemed to help me feel like I was keeping my head above water. I found homeschooling groups online and in the real world which helped oh so much. To me, reading was the hardest thing to teach. But it might have been easier had we known that Chloe needed glasses! Oh my gosh did I feel like a bad mom when I found out she needed glasses. I know it wasn’t my fault for not knowing, but I felt like I should have.( more of a personal issue,of mine, i’m sure 😉 )
5. Do you know a lot of other home-schoolers in your real-life community? (cyberworld does not count for this question!)
I had to find some online groups in our area which eventually lead to real life community.
6. If you could name one thing that inspired you most to home-school, what was it?
God and him showing me all the diffrent things we could do and that we weren’t bound to a schedule and my idea of school. (I am a schedule person, so it was hard for me to learn to undo that and to undo school as I knew it.)I love being able to go outside and do things when we want to, go have lunch with Chloe’s dad, go to the art museum when it’s not crowded. We’ve been able to explore the things she is interest in in a greater depth than we could have anyother way. (She has loved that.)
7. How do you choose your curriculum?
I choose my own curriculum. However I did a TON of research before I decided on anything.I also took into consideration Chloe’s likes and dislikes, she strong and week subjects. She also took classes at WAHA(http://www.wahaohio.com/)in music, gym, and art. She made friends, she learned new things, and she got away from mom for a few hours once a week.She loved it there. They also put on a winter and spring show case, which is like a program and the kids are able to show off what they learned during that semester. It was alot of fun.
8. Are some of your children easier to home-school than the others?
Since I only have two, and have only homeschooled only one I don’t know how much weight my answer will bare. Chloe has been “easy” to homeschool. She catches on quick, she loves a variety of things, she is independent in nature. Having said that, there have been times when she has just looked up from her book and said,”I think we need a break.” or “I love you, but I need a break from you.” At first my feeling were a little hurt, but she was probably right. There are days when you two will frustrate eachother, one feels like “working” and the other one doesn’t. Homeschooling, for us, and our relationship is constatly evolving. Having said that, I think homeschool has actually brought Chloe and I closer. We’ve learned to understand eachother better.
Now Gabe…I have at times entertained the idea of homeschooling Gabe. Due to his “special needs” I think it is best that he be taught, as this time, by people who have an extensive amount of knowledge in teaching children like Gabe. I take an active role in his school currently. He has papers and “homework” sent home. Everyone participates in the homework activities.It is mostly fun stuff, but for him it is work. I speak to ALL of his teachers on a regular basis to see how is doing, what can we do, ect.Even though Gabe has to learn a little diffrently, I haven’t shut the door on the idea of homeschooling him. One day, if I felt God leading and directing it, I would love to homeschool Gabe.
9. Lastly. Do you feel anyone is capeable of home-schooling? And do you feel every child is capeable of home-schooling? What would be an exception?
I think most of us are capeable of homeschooling. However it does take patience to homeschool. I am not a very patient person, this endever has taught me to have more patience. The only parents I would discourage from homeschooling are those who are doing it hoping that it will be “easy” and they can just give the kid a book and then the parent can watch tv and eat chocolate all day; or a parent with anger managment issues.
The only children that I would discourage from being homeschooled would be children with special needs. Unless the homeschooling parent was willing to have a professionals input and/or assistance.Personally, I believe that I would be short changing Gabe if I homeschooled him,at this point in his life. But I don’t want it to sound like I sit back and take a hands off approach to his therapy and schooling.We don’t just let the professionals work with him and wash our hands of it.That’s not healthy either. Our family made a choice to work hand in hand with people more knowledgable than ourselves, to see that Gabe gets a good start in his education and can work with his disablities and not against them. I just don’t feel comfortable that that would be possible on my own.
I hope some of this helps. I know it is riddled with misspelling, but I don’t have time to go through and double check.(Just for the record, Chloe spells very well 😉 )
Let me know if you have any other questions!
I almost forgot, here are some websites that might help:
Homeschooling at about.com http://homeschooling.about.com/
This site is great and can connect u with local groups too: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/
Heclc this is a local homeschooling group which is on line and in the “real world”. They have a lot of info about what is happening in our area and all the diffrent things to do. They are very informative.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/heclc/
Such amazing feedback.
I’m so grateful that so many of you took the time to share your experience and i hope that it helps not only me on my journey to deciding what is best for my children, and what God is calling us to do.
ok- childless, but here’s my response. . . i have always thought i probably won’t homeschool because a) i’m concerned about the social aspect and my kids learning how to deal with other leadership styles and other personalities b) i don’t know that i have the patience or the ability to be keep perspective and give them what they need (not want) if i am with them everyday from 0-18 years old c) i don’t feel passionate about homeschooling.
but lately i’ve been thinking i don’t want my impressionable children around poisonous environments (public school agendas, kids who have no rules at home, teachers who are demeaning, weak curriculums).
in summary, i tend to lean towards ‘not’ doing it. . .but lately i’ve been thinking maybe i’d do homeschooling until a less-impressionable age? a lot of speculation, i know. but thanks for posting about it. i’m intersted in the questions you asked as well. xoxo n
wow, alot of great advice and insight. I will be anxious to hear what you decide to do. With kids the same age as yours I’ve been trying to block out the idea that they will eventually be school-age at all . . . BUT I know it will come. I have often thought of homeschooling, I’ve seen some great people do it. However, Ryan is not leaning that way, and our community does not seem to have a great network of homeschoolers. (atleast not that I’ve seen, this would definitely require more research and inquiry, which I plan to do)
I don’t like the idea of having a major part of my boys’ day happen void of me. Make sense? Even though, I am a little freaked at the thought of doing it myself. Thanks for the post.
Shannon ~ You said: “I don’t like the idea of having a major part of my boys’ day happen void of me.” That makes total sense to me. The elementary school bus picks kids up right outside our house, and every time we hear it, we all look at each other. I remind them sometimes, “You know you’d probably be leaving right now if we didn’t homeschool.” The school bus picks up earlier than we start, and drops off way after we’ve finished. I just can’t imagine them being gone for so, so long every day. Many moms tell me, “I can’t imagine being with my kid for that long every day.” To me, that is so sad. However, with all the behaviors & attitudes that kids pick up in a school atmosphere (via “socialization” 🙄 ), I probably wouldn’t want to be with their kids, either… Heck, on Saturdays, when we’re all running around doing things and not schooling, at the end of the day, I often tell my oldest (who is 10yo — we have a great relationship!), “It feels like I didn’t see you all day!!”
I know I’m kinda going on about this, but I cherish the time I get to spend w/ my kids; I can’t imagine 4/5 of their waking hours being spent somewhere else, being raised by other people.
That said, hs’ing moms have to be diligent to do things so that they don’t go mad w/ SO much time w/ kids… like all mine have a mandatory 1.5 hour quiet time in the afternoon, where everyone separates to color, draw, or do puzzles, and no one is allowed to talk to mom, nor come out of their rooms. That way, I’m able to do tasks that need my “kidless” attention, or read a book, or blog, or talk on the phone, etc.
BTW, homeschooling groups/communities can be helpful, but, really, they’re not necessary.
Shannon, I totally relate to your thought process. That is a lot what even started me thinking that way. I have a hard time releasing my kids that long everyday… i want to be more in charge of “training them up the way they should go” I mean 5 or 6 just seems like so long to be gone 7 hours. But that’s me.
Karen, really great answer. well put.