Hello, Well, I have been wanting to homeschool my younger child because he is in public school here in Florida and he has brought home alot of F's on his school work! He can do it, Im just not sure what the problem is. My 12 year old daughter also is in public school and she has days she is crying because she doesen't have a new outfit to where to school almost every day and she is just under alot of pressure in school from the other kids and so on. Oh, my son is 9. My husband wants them to stay in public school! I just don't know what to do. Any advice/suggestions?:love: I have 4 children! Ages: 18, 13, 16, and 9. 2 girls 2 boys
Hello and welcome! I'm in Florida, too.. Palm Coast to be exact. What part of Florida are you in? Why does your husband want them to stay in public school? I was strongly opposed to homeschooling, but my husband convinced me to give it a one year trial with our oldest. We all loved it so much the first year that we brought our other two home the following year. Ask him if he'd be opposed to a one year trial.
Convince him that your son (ds = dear son/darling son) will benefit if he has one on one interaction through the curriculum. HE is the one who suffers, no one else! Yes, you better be prepared for the attitude he may be giving his teachers too. Or be ready to be forgiving of bad grades. Not all children learn the same as all others. That's why I decided to hs my ds. He was withdrawn Monday and will start with hs curriculum after Thanksgiving holiday. I am so excited and so is he!!! Have faith pray to GOD and give this decision to GOD and he will make it for you and you will know in your heart what you should do. As far as dh (dear husband) give that to GOD too he will show him the path too. My name is Kat btw. GOOD LUCK!
Well as you can imagine your daughter should be more concerned about her grades than what she is wearing. Thinking she needs new outfits all the time is pretty vain. Of course she doesn't see it that way, she sees the other girls at school that seem to have everything. Even if your daughter is making good grades, socially it seems she is not faring so well. She seems swayed too much by popularity or peer pressure. I predict that if there is no intervention there, you could be dealing with much more serious issues with her in just a few years. I don't see how your husband has a foot to stand on. In this house I would simply run those F's in front of his nose, and that would just about be the end of the discussion. I don't hardly see how his wish for the kids to remain in PS has any merit, beings the kids are academic failures. I would make a deal with him. We already tried it your way, and now we'll try it my way. For 1 year. And then go from there. That is just my opinion. I guess it depends on the 'type' of husband you have ha ha
You need the support of your dh. I see a couple ideas, depending on your dh. You can, one, research hoomeschooling on your own, find out costs, what it would entail for you and your family, present it to your dh. Or, two, if he would be willing to just look into the subject with you, the two of you could find out the laws in Florida, research cost, where to acquire materials, visit the library together...and so on. Would he would be willing to list the pros and cons with you on the subject. Then you could suggest one of the previous ideas after you both see that the pros far outweigh the cons... If you are willing to put forth the effort for your kids, you will do a good job and your children will benefit from it.
I think it depends on the type of husband you have. Some men like to be more involved, others not. And all are different in how they go about making decisions. Does your husband like to make lists on paper? Is he more of a computer guy? ect. I find that with my dh he works alot and is very busy. If I bring up something that he thinks is going to be a lot of work for him he automatically says 'no'. So for me it pays off to do the leg work and have everything lined up and ready to 'present'. I am NOT saying my dh is lazy. Just that most men have alot of stuff on their plates, (like who doesn't?) and don't want to mess with stuff. The other thing is, I know you should not nag your dh, but it is possible that he thinks this is a passing fad idea that you have and if he says no, you will drop it. In other words, the squeaky wheel gets oiled. The thing is, you have to pick which wheels to squeak, or you will be perceived as a nag. I hope that makes sense? Maybe he is automatically saying no because he assumes it would be too much work for you? Too much work for him? Too much money? Not provide social interaction for the kids? I would just cover all those bases and present it on paper for him. That works for me. But like I said, other men may be wired differently and each wife knows how to best approach her husband.
I say pray about it and read up on the styles of homeschool and even check out some books from the library about it. There is a bunch of great article about homeschooling at this site: http://www.homeschooloasis.com/article_chart.htm I think we get stuck in the mode that the ONLY way to learn is the "normal" route, but in all honest homeschooling is growing every year. There must be a reason for this. Our children matter more than keeping up with what everyone else is doing and doing it in the "normal" manner. But, I agree that to make it work you and he need to be in agreement. I don't have to worry about that because I am a single mom. I pray that God will open the doors for you and give your husband peace about it.
Hello All, I thank you all for your replies. My husband I think doesen't think I am educated enough to homeschool. He doesen't like the idea of the kids staying home all day out of school. I can go on and on. My husband is what I would say (old school) !!!!!! My kids want to homeschool but it;s my hubby!
well you don't need to be a genius to homeschool. That is what books are for. Library internet so on. You can't possibly know everything, but you can find out where to find out! Order good curriculum. If he seen samples of different curriculum maybe he would change his mind. You can also do pre-testing of your kids at home to see where they are at. For instance just because they are in 3rd grade in PS doesn't mean they are really working at that level. You may test them and see that 2nd grade material would be more appropriate for his learning level. Then work up from there. You might see that he is on science 3rd grade, spelling 4th and maybe he is behind pretty bad in math at a 2nd grade level. all that is ok.
Being in Florida means you have 2 free options for teacher supported school at home. http://k12.com/flvp/ - for younger students like your son... To find out if it's available in your area click here -> http://k12.com/flvp/how_to_enroll/school-district-enrollment-status/ The above program is very structured. I don't have any personal experience using the curriculum through the state, but we did pay for it the first year we homeschooled. I didn't realize we could get it free through the state. It's only free for students who were enrolled in public school or the k12 program the previous year. So, if you think you might want to use this option, that's definitely something to consider. It's a lot like public school at home. You must take certain courses, there is teacher oversight, etc. Students using the program are legally considered homeschoolers, though. Some people love it, some people hate it. Either way, I think it's a great way to test the homeschooling waters. My middle schooler and high schooler use Florida Virtual School. http://flvs.net - for middle and high school students. We like the program because, while there are teachers, the students have a lot of freedom. They can take 1 course or 9 courses. They could take all electives if they wanted. One teacher even changed the course of study for one of my daughters because she was going to drop the course because she didn't find it interesting. My older two have loved the classes; my youngest thought they were boring so she uses Time4Learning along with some other things. Your level of education (I'm guessing you attended high school) really has nothing to do with whether or not you are capable of homeschooling your children. Whether you choose one of the free options above where you have teacher support, or you choose to purchase curriculum (where you'll have all of the answers), you'll do fine. If there are one or two subjects you are weak in, well you can do some studying on your own, enlist other moms for help, or sign your kids up for co-op or online classes in those areas. Ask for one year. One year won't ruin your children I have a feeling your husband will be a big supporter by the end.
That is not a bad idea, trying out the state run home school to prove yourself to your hubby. He will come around if he sees that a 'teacher assisited' program iis available then you can add in some things too if you want to help him get the Fs to ad another leg and become an A!
My dh was not at all on board the first year...and then the next year (this one) he balked a little at keeping the younger son home. It just came down to...We have to do something different for this kid and we have tried public and private school and so now all that is left is home. it was definitly a trial year. But his reading jumped a ton (although still probably below grade level)and the tears were gone and he is just thriving and really what dh wanted was a successful kid. With ds #2, there were no problems at school whatsoever...but it just seemed simpler to have them both home. (ds#2 is a completely different kid and I am almost...I said almost...questioning my decision to bring him home.) dh is now very sold on the academic benifits of hs...although he is a bit testy still on the social issues...but I sold him by doing the first trial year. (and we not only had to put the time into it but give up 40K a year too)
Sorry, I haven't read everything here, just skimmed, so forgive me if it's been suggested. Have you talked to him about a trial time period? Even if you have to help the kids limp to the end of the school year, maybe you could do a trial over the summer. Prove to your hubby you can do it. It's the same thing that even those of us who have been homeschooling for years do.. we take it one year, one month, one week, one day and even sometimes one hour at a time. If we can get through that then we go on to the next little block of time. We each know that at the point if fails to work for us we can either change things up (new curriculum, new teaching style, or ditching all of it all together) or look for outside options (public or private school). I'm sure your husband just wants the best for your children, just like you do. He may not understand that you don't have to be a genius to teach. He probably sees the point of school through schooled eyes and not educated eyes... that just means that he thinks you need to learn specific things instead of learning HOW to learn (like teaching your kids that if you want to know "x" about "y", you can look in the dictionary, the atlas, the INTERNET, etc. instead of telling them they simply need to know about "y" and spewing that info to them in the form of curriculum). Good luck, I do not recommend you go against your hubby's wishes, nor do I recommend you push so much that you start a war in your home. I do recommend that you talk openly about your ideas, ask him to share his and try to find an even playing ground.. hopefully that will be a trial year (or even summer or even Christmas break ).
Good Words there Sommer! Very good ideas! the trial period is how most of us start out! We were just going to do Kinder garden, then well maybe first too.. I have one who is graduating this year who up to this year was home! She is now going to a private school that is really a home school class room style. She loves it cause shes around oru Church group of kids and has lSOS for school and MUS just like we had at home, plus two dramatic arts classes ( Band and Drama)
