My dh has been in for eight years now - three in the Army and five in the Coast Guard. We have been stationed at Ft Bragg, NC, Patrick AFB, FL, and are currently in Connecticut. It will be time for us to move again next summer too. Did being a military family have anything to do with you choosing to homeschool, or do you think you would have done it anyway? For us it was definitely a big factor in our decision, although we may have done it anyway. I just feel like that even if we found a school we loved for the children, we would just have to start from scratch every few years anyway. And the style, curriculum, and quality of the schools in the places we've lived has varied wildly. I wish they had more DOD schools, but that is not the case in most places anymore. I like knowing that our kids' education doesn't have to be so interrupted everytime we move, and that we can take off time when Daddy is on leave and to make trips home when we like.
My sis ended up hsing during their AF career. My bil just retired last month. They were stationed in DC on 9/11 and then transferred to upstate NY in 2002. My dn was around 8 or 9 at the time and was dealing with PTSD. They ps system gave my sis alot of flack and felt that he just needed to grow up and deal with things. They've been hsing ever since. I'm prior Army but my kiddos were little at the time. Now I'm hsing my youngest who is 13. Btw, keep watching this thread as there is quite a few military folks on here!
We're an Army family currently stationed at Ft. Monroe, VA. Our kids started their schooling at a DOD school on Ft Campbell while hubby was deployed (3 times). When we moved to VA, we began homeschooling. Our decision was based on the need for more family time with Daddy, academics, the schools in VA, etc. We had always considered homeschooling an option but I don't think God really opened the door for me to fully research it until we were moving away from Ft. Campbell. I know that doing it from the beginning with a baby and a toddler and hubby always gone would not have been best for our oldest (for our family...I know military fams do it all the time). Once we got to VA, we ended up moving 3 times in 13 months between 2 different school districts and our kids didn't miss a beat so homeschooling was definitely a good option for this military family. Now that we've been homeschooling over 2 years, I don't foresee them returning to school as long as we live here (and we plan to retire here if the right employment opportunity exists when the time comes). Rhonda
My DH is retired...he served in both the Navy and the Army National Guard and did a tour in Iraq. Most of his time was served before we had school-aged children, but after living the active-duty lifestyle, I could definitely see how beneficial HS'ing would be in that situation! Just wanted to say hi to the other military folks, and thanks for all you do for our country!
My family is Navy. Hubby has been in 11 years now. Being a military family has helped with the decision to homeschool. Plus we get more daddy time and more extended family time. We ca n visit them whenever we want to.
My husband is i nthe Air Force and we are currently stationed in Elmendorf AK. Homeschooling is definately something I think more military should look into but it wasnt our reason for doing so. It was a huge advantage though. No matter when we move or where they send daddy we can work around that schedule and not be "behind".
My husband is in the Canadian Air Force since 2000 and my children always went to school (Ontario-2000, Saskatchewan-2003, Nova Scotia-2006 and Quebec-2007) But after 2 months in school, Quebec was a nightmare for my children (different mentality-no friends) and they ask me to be homeschooled. I droped everything and ''saved'' my children!! It's tough enough having a part time dad, no forever friends, and moving all the time...if homeschooling can save my children, I will do it until they are ready for College. (And I can homeschool myself, learning english everyday!!) Education is too different, and because they spend too little time at the same place, they dont take time to help them. The first Year, I focussed on the real learning problems...now, we can move forward. With me, they will have something that wont change everytime we move...for once. And without the military I would'nt have discover how wonderful can be homeschooling... Heln
I was a military wife along time ago...and only with a preschooler. I think I definitly would have considered homeschooling though, even as a single parent I tried to figure out if we could make it work. (I didn't do it though) Now I feel like we are so blessed that I have that option... I can see how Heln feels, that this way school is the constant instead of the huge stressor in the moving. I definitely felt like, with the military that as MOM moves...that is how the children handle it. If mom is excited then the kids are too...if mom fusses about leaving friends and how scary things are (like learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road) then the kids don't handle it well either.
