Before dh and I had children we attended a church with several families that homeschooled. We are still at that church and just knew right away that that's what we wanted to do. I'm not sure I would have ever considered thought about homeschooling had I known people already doing it. The original families, still all homeschool and we are all good friends! So how did you find out about homeschooling? Kristine
One of my sisters homeschooled her boys. I had not really considered it until sd started down the wrong path and we had to act. Since then I have know that this is what we were meant to do. I look foward to the day I start with dd but that will not be until 2nd grade. Sd has a hard time concentrating with dd around and our house is not that big. This gives me two years to pick out curriculum and I am sure I still won't be sure that I choose right once I start (so much to choose from):lol:
I must have heard about it in from the news or tv. I didn't know of anyone who did. For some reason I just 'knew' about it, that it was 'out there'. LOL
A friend/neighbor homeschooled her kids. Well, I didn't really know who prior to homeschooling, I got to know her when I went to her for hs advise. Both of her kids graduated from hs and are very successful.
My sister homeschooled her children before I ever started. My pastor and his wife homeschooled as well but I never thought much about it until my sister started doing it. Once we found out we were going to have Ems, we knew we wanted to homeschool.
I had a neighbor in a duplex many years pre-marriage who home schooled her boys. Her and her husband also had full custody of his son. I remember her telling me about how the mother, who pretty much had to rights to even see the child, took them to court and the judge ordered them to send him to public school. At the time, not even wanting children, it still left an impression of "wow, that judge just screwed that child over." In other words, something in me knew that home schooling was a better choice than ps. When my oldest was about 3, I did the math and figured out that he'd miss the kindergarten cut off by 18 days. DH and I talked about it and knew that we'd have to do something because we weren't letting him get held back a whole year because he was 18 days too young (our district does not allow kids to test in. the cut off is set in stone). About a week later I was listening to Focus on the Family and Lisa Weltchel was on. She was talking about HSing her boys. It just clicked. That was our answer. By the time I did a bunch of reading, throwing facts at DH we were both hooked.
I first heard of Homeschooling when I was in college and two of my very best friends there were homeschool kids. I started college in 94, and this wasn't as common then. I listened to their experiences and compared them to mine and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was what I wanted for my future children. It took some convincing of my DH, but I never looked back.
When hubby and I were dating, we attended a bible study for all the folks on the Worship Team at the church. The folks who hosted it had 3 boys, and they homeschooled. Their boys were so neat, so smart and just so genuine. We decided before we even married that we would homeschool b/c of our knowing them.
Indirectly John Stossel from ABC. When my oldest was about 18 months I saw a show he did on the public school system. From there I started researching homeschooling. It took some convincing for DH, but he is more excited about it than me now.
the very first experience i ever had with homeschooling was when i was a kid and a girl i hung out with a bit (as well as her two older siblings) were homeschooled --- at the time, though, i didn't know that's what it was called....i was 11 and all i knew was that she did a different kind of school - i remember her telling me that she did her work and then "mailed it away" to be marked (must have been some kind of distance program or something?)...... this was also my first experience with knowing a Christian family - though i didn't even really know that at the time either...i just knew that she wasn't allowed to do some of the things i was - like listen to "my" music (i was into the 80's hair bands like warrant & poison and that sort of stuff and she wasn't allowed to listen to that)......i knew they went to church, believed in God, lived a different sort of lifestyle but I didn't know what it all "meant", if that makes sense? (i should add that my father/stepmother are atheists and that's the upbringing i'd had until i was older, so that's why i didn't know what all this meant) ...... after that, i never met another homeschooler until i was an adult - the next homeschooling family i "knew of" was the girls who delivered my newspaper when i was 20 ....i didn't really know them, i just remember them mentioning that they were...... no more experiences with it until this last year - i knew it existed, and started researching, realizing that this was a good option for my 11 year old stepdaughter (she'd had 5 years of ps and it was going downhill more and more).... it's kinda funny when i think all the way back there....i've come from being that 11 year old myself who thought that my Christian homeschooled friend was strange (please don't anyone take offense there ok? i was an 11 year old public schooled airforce brat raised by atheist parents -- my views of things were shaped by my upbringing to that point) to being an almost 31 year old Christian (fairly new) parent homeschooling her own 11 year old and raising her & her brother with a similar lifestyle to that girl i knew back then. funny how life works out.
I had known about it for quite some time. My mother pulled me from a private school to HS me. That never worked out though. My children had always attended small christian schools. The last one shut down and the principal was going to teach her grandkids in her basement and invited mine to come also. I said yes at first, (I had always said I would never HS) then dh and I talked and prayed about it, along with our pastor. We felt the Lord leading us to HS. We haven't looked back. We have had our struggles, but we all love it.
I was homeschooled part of the time when I was a kid. My dad did forestry work when I was a kid and we moved with the jobs. For my parents public school was not an option. If there was a church school, in our denomination, in the town we were living in, and if we could afford it at the time I went to church school. If there wasn't a church school or if we were moving too often that year we homeschooled. I loved it when I was little, but by the time I was 13 I really wanted to go to school, so my parents rearranged their lives so that we settled into one town where there was a church school and Dad got a traditional job. So I have always known that homeschooling was an option, but never really planned to do it myself. But as my oldest reached school age I thought about it more and more and my husband and I decided that it is the right choice fo rus at this time. We are taking it one year at a time. At this moment I can see us doing this long term, but I am open to other choices if there comes a time when I think it would be better for our family.
I dont remember I think it was something we read hubby and I years ago. We didnt know anyone that homeschooled during that time. Sam
First recall hearing about it when I was in middle school & one of the families took all their kids 'home' for school. Families at our church over the past 12 years. And, finally, we had homeschoolers in our AP Playgroup.
My parents HSed my brother while he was in middle school. I was married and had Elianna by then, living in Germany so I didn't see how it worked. But it did sound wonderful. Then when Elianna was in 1st grade her bus driver started HSing her own children (one was in Elianna's class) and it fascinated me to think the she could teach her kids at home. She is the one that helped my decide I could do it too. I really wish I would've started much earlier!! Or even skipped PS all together!
I first heard of homeschooling when I was teaching high school and had some previously homeschooled students in my class. I have to say they did very well and represented the homeschooling community excellently. While contemplating what to do about my kids when they were bored in ps, the ps guidance counselor, of all people, suggested it to me. He had almost hs'ed his daughter but opted for a private school instead. Carol
The first actual homeschooler I met was after I already decided to hs. I met her in the Library homeschool section. Very sweet and helpful.
Hmmm, as a kid I knew a homeschool family. They were odd to me but I liked them all the same. I remember being jealous of them, because they didnt have to deal with bullies at school. Then once I had my kids I knew homschooling must be difficult and out of reach for me. (ROFL) I didnt even look into it. I sent my son to kindy and we both cried every morning for months. Then came first grade and we had a horrible experience with that school. I then pulled Noah out of that environment and I looked into homeschooling. I was shocked! Homeschooling was much easier than I had ever imagined! I'm so glad to have my kids home.
I used to teach public school. I heard about homeschooling from the parent of a former student, but didn't really know anything about it. I took some time away from teaching, going to graduate school and then working as the director of educational programming for a regional arts organization. Needless to say, lots of homeschool families and coops/networks participated. Honestly, I was pretty creeped out by some of the first homeschooling kids I met - their vocabulary was way past what I expected from kids their same age (should have been a flag) and their social skills were different than their age peers (in hindsight, more mature). I still didn't think much of it, until I returned to teaching public school. I was completely shocked how the school I was teaching in was unable to take advantage of the myriad programs being offered in the community by arts organizations like the one I had worked for...because the teachers and administrators were afraid to take time away from test preparation. This spurred me to begin my personal research into homeschooling.
I met a few homeschooled kids in college. I really didn't think much about it at the time. I remember lots of people thinking one of the hs'ed girls brown-nosed the teachers a lot. In hindsight, she probably just knew how to talk to adults, and us socialized ps kids did not. The two girls who became my best friends through college and after both planned to hs. They knew before they even had children. Both had degrees in education and knew they didn't want their kids in ps. I was the one who would never homeschool. I wasn't against it, just didn't think it was for me. As it turns out, one of those friends has 5 kids and has always homeschooled. The other is teacher and all 3 of her kids go to ps. My oldest went to K & 1st and I brought him home. The others have never been in ps. It took certain circumstances to make me consider hs'ing. God knew that and put me there.
